Secret fear at the end trapped in credit fraud (10,5)
I believe the answer is:
confidence trick
'end trapped in credit fraud' is the definition.
'confidence trick' can be an answer for 'fraud' (I've seen this before). I am unsure of the 'end trapped in credit' bit.
'secret fear at' is the wordplay.
'secret' becomes 'confidence' (confidence is a kind of secret).
'fear at' becomes 'trick' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'confidence'+'trick'='CONFIDENCE TRICK'
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for confidence trick that I've seen before include "fraud" , "scam" , "sting" , "Deception" .)