I get these two confused.
What's the difference between "ploy" and "dec
A ploy is a scheme. Decoy is a diversion to draw your attention away from the target
To expand on that a little, a ploy is an attempt to manipulate people or events to bring about the outcomes that you desire.
A decoy is a person or object (usually) that serves to lure someone either toward something (as wooden duck decoys are used to entice real ducks closer to a hunter) or away from something (as when a mother bird feigns injury to draw a predator away from her nest). When an action is used to, say, decoy police away from a particular area (yes, decoy is also a verb), it's usually referred to a as a diversion, or a diversionary tactic, but sometimes "decoy" is also used.
A decoy is a person or object (usually) that serves to lure someone either toward something (as wooden duck decoys are used to entice real ducks closer to a hunter) or away from something (as when a mother bird feigns injury to draw a predator away from her nest). When an action is used to, say, decoy police away from a particular area (yes, decoy is also a verb), it's usually referred to a as a diversion, or a diversionary tactic, but sometimes "decoy" is also used.