To deceive or cheat by cunning is to bamboozle. Example: "The salesman bamboozled the woman into buying a junk car." Other underhanded methods that are near synonyms to bamboozle include dupe, hoodwink, snow, betray, lead astray, fool and swindle.

The origins of this slang expression are as confused as the word itself. Perhaps it is of Scottish origin. There was a 17th century Scottish verb bombaze (to perplex). Bamboozle first appeared in the early 1700s. In 1710 it was on Jonathan Swift's list of the latest buzzwords (others included bully, mob and sham).