[f. prec. sb.] trans. † a. To humbug, to beguile into (something). b. U.S. To cheat (a person) out of (money) ‘while he is making change for a bill, by distracting or confusing him, so that he pays out more than the proper sum’ (Stand. Dict.).
1660. S. Fisher, Rustick’s Alarm, Wks. (1679), 307. None but Fools will by thy floud of Words be flim-flam’d into thy Faith.
1890. Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, 26 July. Sent [to jail] … for flimflaming a … saloon-keeper out of some money.
Hence Flim-flammer.
1894. Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, 31 Jan. The New York flim-flammers and green goods men … are still out of the clutches of the United Secret Service.
