Street
bunco
What does bunco mean?
Bunco (also bunko) is a confidence swindle or fraud, and as a verb means to cheat someone out of money. Police 'bunco squads' targeted such scams.
"They ran a classic bunco on the out-of-towners with a fixed dice game."
Origin
American, from Spanish 'banca,' a card game; entered underworld slang in the 1870s.
Frequently asked questions
What does 'bunco' mean?
Bunco is a confidence swindle or con game. As a verb, to bunco someone means to cheat them out of money through fraud.
What was a 'bunco squad'?
A bunco squad was a police unit dedicated to investigating and shutting down confidence scams, fraud, and swindles.
Where does the word come from?
It comes from the Spanish 'banca,' a card game, and entered American underworld slang in the 1870s. It is also spelled 'bunko.'
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