King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “scam”

Romaji: sagi
fraud; swindle; graft; cheating

In Japanese, scam is , read (sagi).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

  1. n fraud; swindle; graft; cheating; trick; scam
  2. n saying you're going to do something but in the end not doing it; making promises without keeping them; flaking out

Kanji and stroke order

lie, falsehood, deceive
on: サ
kun: いつわ.る
12 strokes · JLPT 1
deceit, cheat, delude
on: ギ
kun: あざむ.く
12 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “scam”

WordReadingMeaning
さぎる sagiruto scam; to defraud; to swindle
ひとだまし hitodamashideception; scam
ひとたらし hitotarashiscam; con trick

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
さしょう sashoumisrepresentation; false statement
さしゅ sashudefrauding; swindle
さじゅつ sajutsuswindling
さぎし sagishiswindler; fraudster; trickster
さがい sagaifraud; defrauding; fraudulent injury
ぎまん gimandeception; deceit
あざむく azamukuto deceive; to delude; to trick
きもう kimoudeception; defrauding someone; fooling someone

See also: Chinese symbol for “scam”.

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.