fraud vs sham

fraud

noun
  • The assumption of a false identity to such deceptive end. 

  • Any act of deception carried out for the purpose of unfair, undeserved and/or unlawful gain. 

  • A person who performs any such trick. 

  • The crime of stealing or otherwise illegally obtaining money by use of deception tactics. 

sham

noun
  • Trickery, hoaxing. 

  • A decorative cover for a pillow. 

  • A false front, or removable ornamental covering. 

  • A fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine. 

  • Champagne. 

adj
  • mock 

  • Intended to deceive; false. 

  • counterfeit; unreal 

  • See also Thesaurus:fake 

verb
  • To obtrude by fraud or imposition. 

  • To deceive, cheat, lie. 

  • To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign. 

How often have the words fraud and sham occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )