shill
Pronunciation: /ʃɪl/
North American informal
noun
- an accomplice of a confidence trickster or swindler who poses as a genuine customer to entice or encourage others: I used to be a shill in a Reno gambling club figurative the agency is a shill for the nuclear power industry
- a person who pretends to give an impartial endorsement of something in which they themselves have an interest: a megamillionaire who makes more money as a shill for corporate products than he does for playing basketball
Origin:
early 20th century: probably from earlier shillaber, of unknown origin