I can't answer directly to the time period I'm assuming you're asking about, or to how common it was, but from my limited knowledge of the Soviets:

The Soviet military made incredibly detailed maps of much of the world, which were a major asset, often being some of the most detailed maps of the area in existence. For example, compare the 1984 US Geological Survey map of Chicago’s lakefront (right) with the 1982 Soviet map of the same area (left), which shows individual buildings and structures on Navy Pier that aren't shown on the US map.

As for fake maps, look at this side-by-side of a tourist map of Tallinn made for the 1980 Olympics (left) and the 1976 military map of the same area (right). Although the basic idea is gotten across well enough for tourists to get around, the actual size and shape of everything is distorted -- look at the size and shape of the water on the left side, the various green areas, and the big loop. These sorts of inaccuracies were common in any maps that would be in possession of civilians (e.g. atlases), as the assumption was that any civilian maps would get into the hands of the Americans/enemy. The inaccuracies were built such that the maps couldn't be used for navigation by enemy forces. According to Aivars Beldavs, who served in the Soviet Army in the mid-'80s, the maps had to be checked out and in for use in the field, and "Even if it gets destroyed, you need to bring back the pieces".

Again, I apologize that this isn't a direct answer to your question, but I hope this example of the tactic you describe being deployed is helpful.

This is a somewhat complicated question to answer, mostly as it is really almost impossible for us to distinguish if the errors in the maps -and there were numerous errors throughout- are there by pure mistake, or if there was a real belief it was correct, or if there was an conscious effort to introduce errors for subterfuge. With the focus on the earliest period of exploration (1400-1550) I can only say we have only too few maps, and even fewer accompanying texts or context clues which would show the reasoning behind drawing of each map for us to be able a conclusion.

Still, we know something on the approach states had towards maps and charts. Both Spain and Portugal made effort to keep their maps and charts secret - however most likely with negligible real and especially long term success. Portuguese in particular are quite famous for their policy of "Secrecy". It was in full force from 1504 when King Manuel forbid, on penalty of death, creation of charts showing lands past Congo in order to prevent the knowledge to reach possible competitors who would challenge the Portuguese monopoly. There is still considerable debates in the academic circles how much was this policy successful, or even when exactly did it start (as King Joao II also had some similar but less drastic proclamations).
We do believe it was enforced (or at least attempted to be enforced). One of the earliest (written around 1505-1508) surviving Portuguese textual manuscripts on geography of the Asian lands, Duarte Pacheco Pereira's Esmeraldo De Situ Orbis abruptly ends when it starts explaining the geography beyond Cape of Good Hope, misses all the maps and drawings referenced in the text, and in general was never printed. The leading suspicion why this is so is because Portuguese censors removed all the "classified" information according to Manuel's proclaimation. But we aren't sure, as we don't have any indication. It could be just that those parts haven't survived through history, or that work was suppressed due to Duarte Pacheco Pereira's minor fall from grace from the court.

The same book, Esmeraldo De Situ Orbis is very relevant for your question. In it there is a short quote in it about the size of the new discovered lands in west which says:

in which your Highness ordered us to discover the Western region, a very large landmass with many large islands: adjacent, extending North of the Equator, and located beyond the greatness of the Ocean, has been discovered and navigated; this distant land is densely populated and extends 28 1/2° on the other side of the Equator towards the Antarctic Pole. Such is its greatness and length that on either side its end has not been seen or known, so that it is certain that it goes round the whole globe

This claim that the new western lands (Americas) spread across entire globe, to the poles and beyond is followed by claims that "Ocean" (including Atlantic and Indian ocean) is just a lake surrounded by Earth, and it takes 1/7th of surface of Earth and 6/7th surface is land. It is unknown if this unorthodox view of Earth was limited to just Pacheco Pereira, or to other Portuguese as well, but we do have some maps indicating the latter. Portuguese so-called Miller Atlas from 1519, features a view of the Earth where we see the Americas going south, merging with Antartica, and then at the other end of Indian ocean again merging with Asia. Similar feature of America and Antartica can be seen at Piri Reis map of 1513, which was by its own admission was copied from Portuguese and Spanish maps.

Now why is this important? Portuguese certainly didn't go that far south down South America (if they did they would see they are wrong) nor - despite numerous conspiracy theories claiming otherwise - didn't reach or chart the Antarctic. Yet their maps distinctly claimed Americas and Asia were connected through landmass despite evidence. Why would they do that? Well, maybe they honestly believed this, but there is an alternate explanation. At that time there was an ongoing competition of the sort of who would reach and "control" India between Spain and Portugal. By the Treaty of Tordesillas Portuguese were given the monopoly of the Eastern route by the Cape of Good Hope, while the Spaniards could go West, but Americas "got in the way". With these maps it is highly probable Portuguese where trying to influence Spanish (and others) thought that it was impossible to reach India by the Western route, which might directly fall under the premise of the question. However this is all more speculation - or educated guess really - than fact, as we really don't know why Portuguese drew such maps and claimed such things.

It is the touch of irony perhaps, that it was a Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, with claims that he saw some top secret Portuguese maps which indicated a passageway to the Indies through this large landmass, to get Spanish permission to search for the Western passage to Asia. This voyage, which would end up with first circumnavigation of the globe, may be important for us for another reason: the reported longitude. At the time of expedition, circa 1520, Portuguese and Spanish had divided the globe in two halves by a line in the Atlantic, but couldn't really reach an agreement on where that line exactly was, especially on the other side of the globe. Depending on the exact longitude, the sources of rich spices Moluccas or Spice islands would become either Portuguese or Spanish. Now following the expedition Spanish claimed the Spice islands fell into their part of the globe. this is strange as neither Spice islands, nor Phillipines for that matter actually would fall in the Spanish part. Yet the Spanish claimed they had proof. Published account by Italian survivor of the expeditions Antonio Pigafetta also claimed the area fell into Spanish part (E.g. quote here says Borneo is 174 °west from line of Demarcation, putting in in Spanish sphere. Yet another account of the expedition, the naval log of Alvo / Albo says that Borneo was 201° west of demarcation line, placing it actually in Portuguese area. Now, Alvo's account wasn't published, as it was internal document of the expedition, but as such was familiar to the Spanish authorities. To not get ahead of ourselves, calculating exact longitude was impossible back then, and it is highly likely both measurements were wrong and quite possibly by innocent mistakes. Yet it is no wonder that the Spanish authorities, when choosing between two values, made public the account which benefited them.

To conclude, there was plenty of maps and accounts with wrong information on them. We can't be sure if it was intentional or accidental, but the tendency is that inaccuracies favor the publisher.

Follow up question from a reading of Shogun. Is ot fair to say the pilot charts and notes were jealously held like the book says?

In the ancient Mediterranean both Phoenician and Greek traders/explorers were known to keep their routes secret or to spread false tales about distant lands.

From the early Iron Age to the expansion of the Roman Empire, little was known about the world beyond the Straight of Gibraltar or of the lands to the north of the Pyrenees and Alps. The Greeks of the city state Massalia (now Marseille in southern France) had knowledge of the trade routes in Gaul and also explored the Atlantic Ocean on at least two occasions. They generally kept this knowledge to themselves (the book Pytheas the explorer wrote being an exception), so no other traders could exploit these routes. Their biggest strength was their position as the gatekeepers to Gaul, so their prosperity depended on their monopoly of the Gallic trade. Knowledge about the exploits of Massalia and various other Greek city states eventually converged during the domination of the Romans, but was kept relatively secret for hundreds of years.

the Carthaginians had extensive trade networks along the west coast of Africa, but they were known to spread tales of sea monsters and dangerous currents about the Atlantic Ocean. It's likely they also exercised control over the Straight of Gibraltar, but if this failed, they still had their ghost stories to hopefully scare fellow traders away from their lucrative contacts on the African coast.

Sources

Roller, D. W. (2015). Ancient Geography. The Discovery of the World in Classical Greece and Rome.

Hodge, A. T. (1998). Ancient Greek France.

Cunliffe, B. (2003). The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek.