Scam – Wikipedia

A scam, or confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group[clarification needed] after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim’s credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as “a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct … intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial”, as they “benefit con operators (‘con men’) at the expense of their victims (the ’marks’)”.