: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation
an insurance scam
scammed; scamming; scams
1
: to deceive and defraud (someone)
… the law firm had got the lucrative job of defending the corporate head of a savings and loan that had scammed another thousand or so people out of their savings …—
Joseph Wambaugh
Joseph Wambaugh2
: to obtain (something, such as money) by a scam
A Boston hedge fund manager who scammed millions of dollars from friends, family and other investors in what authorities say was a Ponzi scheme has been sent to prison for more than 14 years.—The Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram & Gazette
The Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram & GazetteSynonyms
Examples of scam in a Sentence
Noun
She was the victim of an insurance scam.
a sophisticated credit card scam
Verb
The company scammed hundreds of people out of their life savings.
I could tell they were scamming you and charging too much.
They scammed a lot of money from unwary customers.
Recent Examples on the WebRob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 June 2024
Telegram is far less moderated than Facebook, and has issues with rampant scam bots, crypto scammers, and shady malware vendors.
—Kate Irwin, PCMAG, 5 June 2024
Ali Swenson, Fortune, 22 May 2024
Predatory marketing practices — where variable rate offers expired, and then rose sharply — were used to scam households, resulting in over $1 billion in overpayments since 2014, with disproportionate overpayment by low-income households.
—Joie D. Acosta, Baltimore Sun, 26 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for scam 
Noun
The Federal Trade Commission in 2022 determined that utility imposter scams were the third-most common scam category in the country.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 June 2024
Telegram is far less moderated than Facebook, and has issues with rampant scam bots, crypto scammers, and shady malware vendors.
—Kate Irwin, PCMAG, 5 June 2024
Verb
Political campaigns and bad actors also have weaponized highly realistic images, videos and audio content to scam, mislead and disenfranchise voters.
—Ali Swenson, Fortune, 22 May 2024
Predatory marketing practices — where variable rate offers expired, and then rose sharply — were used to scam households, resulting in over $1 billion in overpayments since 2014, with disproportionate overpayment by low-income households.
—Joie D. Acosta, Baltimore Sun, 26 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for scam
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scam.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near scam
Cite this Entry
“Scam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scam. Accessed 9 Jun. 2024.
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