1963 Time 28 June 48/2 He..worked..as a carny huckster... ‘It was a full scam.’

1971 Harper's Mag. Feb. 89 A gambling house is a sitting duck to every con man or outlaw who comes through; he is invariably convinced that he has a scam that you have never seen before.

1972 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 2 July 19/6 It was necessary to the success of the latest ‘scam’ that it be worked in places where $25 chips were constantly in play.

1975 J. F. Burke Death Trick (1976) iv. 64 Hustling of any kind he could live with in his hotel, dope-dealing, selling ass, almost any scam, even burglary.

1976 M. Machlin Pipeline v. 58 Gamblers, pimps, whores, conmen, and scam artists of every persuasion were drawn to the scene like sharks.

1978 M. Puzo Fools Die xii. 131 The bribe-taking scam had been going on for nearly two years without any kind of hitch.

1966 Wall St. Jrnl. 9 Sept. 1/1 (heading) ‘Fat Man’ Scolnick & ‘scams’... They're known as ‘scam’ operators, promoters who set up ostensibly legitimate businesses, order large amounts of merchandise on credit, sell it fast and strictly for cash—and then go ‘bankrupt’, leaving their creditors unpaid.

1968 J. M. Ullman Lady on Fire (1969) xiv. 181 ‘The main plan's to go bankrupt... The suppliers will be stuck with unpaid bills for millions. There's a name for that—’ ‘Scam game,’ Forbes said.

1974 N.Y. Times 8 July 26/1 Organized crime is stealing millions of dollars from the public through planned fraudulent bankruptcies, called ‘scams’ by the underworld.