Deception, fraud, double-dealing, trickery, chicane, chicanery mean the act or practice of, or the means used by, one who deliberately deceives in order to accomplish his ends.
Deception may or may not imply blameworthiness, for it may be used not only of cheating, swindling, and tricking but also of many arts or games in which the object is illusion or mystification.
Deception also may be used for the state of being deceived.
Fraud, on the other hand, except in casual use, always implies guilt, often criminality, in act or practice. Distinctively, it usually suggests the perversion of the truth for the sake of persuading someone to surrender some valuable possession or a legal right.
The term may suggest an act or practice involving concealment of truth, violation of trust and confidence, or nonperformance of contracted acts by which one (as an agent, an attorney, an executor, an employer, or an employee) gains an advantage over another to the injury of the latter.
Double-dealing usually implies duplicity in character and in actions, for it frequently suggests an act that in its essence is contrary to one’s professed attitude.
The term may imply secret treating with each of two opposed persons or groups as though one were friendly to that person or group and inimical to the other.
Trickery implies acts or practices that are intended to dupe or befool others; it often implies sharp practice or actual dishonesty.
Chicane and chicanery imply petty or paltry trickery and often subterfuge especially in legal proceedings.