"A scapegoat is someone who is blamed and punished for something that is not their responsibility. This person might be in the situation of a fall-guy, however, it is more often used to refer to situations in which the "scapegoat" is not guilty of anything, but is used to represent some bad thing."
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/patsy-fall-guy-scapegoat.1753347/