(n.) The act or conduct of an impostor; deception practiced under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition; cheating.

acting affectation appearance artifice attitudinizing ballot-box stuffing bluff bluffing bunco cardsharping charlatanism charlatanry cheat cheating color coloring copy copying counterfeit counterfeiting cozenage deceit deception delusion diddle diddling disguise dishonesty dissemblance dissembling dissimulation dodge emulation fabrication facade face fake fakery faking false air false front false show falsity feigning feint fishy transaction flam flimflam following forgery four-flushing fraud fraudulence fraudulency front gambit gerrymandering gilt gloss graft grift gyp gyp joint hit-off hoax humbug humbuggery illicit business imitation impersonation imposition impression make-believe maneuver masquerade meretriciousness mimesis mirroring onomatopoeia ostentation outward show parody phony plagiarism plagiary playacting ploy pose posing posture pretense pretension pretext put-on quackery quackishness quackism racket repetition representation ruse scam seeming semblance sham show simulacrum simulation sleight speciousness spoof swindle takeoff varnish wile window dressing