Are criminals using fake perfume samples to drug women in car parks?

A number of different online rumours all claim that criminals are using free perfume samples as bait to render female victims unconscious leaving them vulnerable to robbery. The claims typically place this type of alleged crime as occurring in various car parks.

The rumours are examples of a long running Internet hoax.

Depending on which variant of this long-running hoax you happen to encounter, the drug being used may be ether, burundanga or left unspecified.

PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO YOUR WOMEN FRIENDS!!!
This is happening in Lidl’s across the country!
I was approached yesterday afternoon around 3:30pm in my local Lidl car park by two males, asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. Then they asked if I’d like to sample some fabulous scent they were willing to sell me at a very reasonable Price. I probably would have agreed had I not received an email a couple of days ago, warning of a “wanna smell this gorgeous perfume?” scam.
The men continued to stand between parked cars, I presumed to wait for someone else to try it on. I stopped a lady going towards them, pointed at them, and told her about how I was sent an e-mail at work about someone walking up to you at the shopping centre or Supermarket car parks , and asking you to SNIFF THE PERFUME that they are selling at a ridiculously cheap price.
THIS IS NOT PERFUME – IT IS ‘ETHER’ (A POWERFUL DRUG!)
When you sniff it, you’ll pass out. And they’ll take your handbag, your valuables, and car keys. If it were not for this e-mail, I probably would have sniffed the “perfume”. But thanks to the generosity of an emailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me. I wanted to do the same for you.
PASS THIS ALONG TO ALL YOUR WOMEN FRIENDS! PLEASE BE ALERT AND AWARE!!

An example from 2017 purporting Lidl car parks as the alleged scene of the crime.

In fact this long running hoax slash urban-legend slash scarelore has been circulating the interwebs since around 1999, and one of the earliest examples takes us to Alabama when a notably unsubstantiated police report was filed by a Mobile woman who claimed to have been rendered unconscious by a suspicious cologne sample presented to her as she made her way into a bank with [as it just so happens] $300 of cash belonging to her employer. That money – according to the alleged victim – was stolen. While the police report remains officially open, many have expressed serious doubts as to its legitimacy.

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Besides that unsubstantiated police report, there has been little to suggest that this crime has ever actually occurred, much less a trending or emerging type of threat we need to be on alert for.

Over the years, this tale has evolved into a classic online urban legend, with many of its elements embellished or modified over the years as it continues to spread via social media and blogs. As per any classic piece of online scarelore, the legend continually resurfaces, attributing the apparent crime to various locations across the world. Above we quoted an example from 2017 that claimed the phantom crime was happening in Lidl car parks across the UK. The below example is almost identically worded, but circulated back in 2015 and it was Tesco, not Lidl, car parks –

I was approached yesterday afternoon around 3:30pm in my local Tesco car park by two males, asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. Then they asked if I’d like to sample some fabulous scent they were willing to sell me at a very reasonable Price. I probably would have agreed had I not received an email a couple of days ago, warning of a ‘wanna smell this gorgeous perfume?’ scam.
The men continued to stand between parked cars, I presumed to wait for someone else to try it on. I stopped a lady going towards them, pointed at them, and told her about how I was sent an e-mail at work about someone walking up to you at the shopping centre or Supermarket car parks , and asking you to SNIFF THE PERFUME that they are selling at a ridiculously cheap price.
THIS IS NOT PERFUME – IT IS ETHER!
When you sniff it, you’ll pass out. And they’ll take your handbag, your valuables, and car keys. If it were not for this e-mail, I probably would have sniffed the “perfume”. But thanks to the generosity of an emailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me. I wanted to do the same for you.

In fact this “strain” of the hoax goes all the way back to 2001, and it started in the US. In this case, Walmart replaces both Tesco and Lidl from the example above.

PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO YOUR WOMEN FRIENDS!!!
I was approached yesterday afternoon around 3:30pm in the Wal-Mart parking lot at Forest Drive, by two males, asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. Then they asked if I’d like to sample some fabulous scent they were willing to sell me at a very reasonable rate. I probably would have agreed had I not received an email some weeks ago, warning of a “wanna smell this neat perfume?” scam.
The men continued to stand between parked cars, I guess to wait for someone else to hit on. I stopped a lady going towards them, pointed at them, and told her about how I was sent an e-mail at work about someone walking up to you at the malls or in parking lots, and asking you to SNIFF PERFUME that they are selling at a cheap price.
THIS IS NOT PERFUME – IT IS ETHER!
When you sniff it, you’ll pass out. And they’ll take your wallet, your valuables, and heaven knows what else. If it were not for this e-mail, I probably would have sniffed the “perfume”. But thanks to the generosity of an emailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me. I
wanted to do the same for you.
PASS THIS ALONG TO ALL YOUR WOMEN FRIENDS, AND PLEASE BE ALERT, AND AWARE!!

Again, this “strain” of the hoax also attributes a number of other locations too depending on the version you see, including both ASDA car parks and Westfield (New Zealand) car parks.

A shorter version also names Walmart, and includes Home Depot as the alleged locations.

If anyone stops u in the parking lot of Wal-Mart or Home depot and ask you if you are interested in some perfume and gives you a paper to smell don’t, its a sham. The paper is laced with drugs. You can pass out so they can kidnap you, rob, or worse. Please forward to all your friends and family. Save a life. Thanks

Other than the lack of police reports, corroborating witness accounts or any type of reputable source to back up these claims, this legend also suffers from one serious problem; the drug ether (or burundanga, or indeed any other publicly available drug) cannot render a victim unconscious with a mere whiff.t. Any healthy individual would have to abuse any of these drugs for some time to reduce themselves into a physically incapable state.

As such, the primary claim that those who sniff the substance instantly become so physically drained or unconscious as to make themselves vulnerable to any type of attack is rendered false.

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Going back even further and we have this similar warning from way back in 2000, only it was a shopping mall in Florida, USA that was the alleged scene of the crime –

I WAS SENT AN E-MAIL AT WORK ABOUT SOMEONE WALKING UP TO YOU AT MALLS OR PARKING LOTS AND ASKING YOU TO SNIFF PERFUME THEY ARE SELLING AT A CHEAP PRICE. THIS ISN’T REALLY PERFUME BUT ETHER, AND YOU WILL PASS OUT AND THEY TAKE YOUR WALLET AND ALL YOUR VALUABLES. THIS IS NOT A PRANK E-MAIL, THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE I WAS STOPPED IN GOVERNORS SQUARE PARKING LOT TODAY.

Not all versions of the hoax quote ether as the drug of choice. This version from 2013 omits the name of the drug –

Guys pass this on and make sure your kids know!!! Thank you…. I just got this forwarded to me- Pls, if anyone stops you and ask if you are interested in some perfumes and gives you a paper to smell, pls don’t! It’s a new scam. the paper is laced with drugs, You will pass out so they can rob you or do worse things to you, Pls forward to all friends and the family..save a life pls. Don’t forget kids with phones!!!!! High TARGETS!!!

Other popular variants of this hoax claim that criminals are using drug soaked business cards (replacing perfume samples) or that they are visiting victims at their houses (as opposed to attacking them in car parks) or that poisonous perfume samples are being mailed to victims in envelopes. However all these variants fail to stand up to even a basic fact check.