imposture

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act or conduct of an impostor; deception practiced under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition.

   “Among an unenlightened people every impoſture is likely to take place, for ignorance is the parent of credulity.”

   “There is something very horrible in the laugh of a dying man: Hovering on the verge of both worlds, he seems to give the lie to both, and proclaim the enjoyments of one, and the hopes of another, alike an imposture.”

   “"I thought that you were a genuine mathematician—I vouched for it," replied Sir Fergus with more regret than anything else. "And the extent of your achievement has been to contrive a vulgar imposture—in the guise of an ingenious inventor to swindle society by a sham automaton that doesn't even work."”