under false pretenses

idiom

: by saying something that is not true, by pretending something, etc.

A reporter obtained documents from the company under false pretenses.

Examples of under false pretenses in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The videos were obtained under false pretenses by an individual who posed as a concerned parent and additional individuals who posed as family friends of the employee pictured. —Jackson Thompson, Fox News, 30 Jan. 2025

Haim was indicted last May in the U.S. District Court in Houston on four counts of obtaining personal medical information under false pretenses from the online system at Texas Children’s Hospital, one of the country’s largest pediatric healthcare organizations. —Abby Monteil, Them, 28 Jan. 2025

Wang’s disappearance revived fears among many in China and elsewhere in East Asia of kidnapping rings in Southeast Asia, where victims are lured to countries like Thailand and Cambodia under false pretenses, then forced to work—often running new scams. —Chloe Berger, Fortune Asia, 20 Jan. 2025

Officials said the same ring was charged in a similar scheme where vehicles were taken under false pretenses and delivered to California Collision in San Bernardino. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 20 Feb. 2025

Rhymes for under false pretenses

• albigenses
• consequences
• inferences
• biosciences
• commences
• condenses
• defences
• defenses
• dispenses
• expenses
• offences
• offenses