Nowadays, because of the internet, information can be sent around the world almost instantly. Such speed is often an advantage but can it be a disadvantage too. Especially when the information sent is inaccurate or simply not true, as is the case with the perfume hoax. This is a story, sent out in an e-mail, that tells of women being attacked in parking lots.

The gist of the perfume hoax is that women walking in store parking lots are approached by strangers who ask them what perfume that they are wearing. Then, it is claimed, they are attacked and kidnapped, or brutally beaten and left in the parking lot after the harsh assault.

Other versions of the hoax claim that the perpetrators in the parking lot are pretending to be selling off brands or even original bottles of perfume at a discounted rate. When the women smell the perfume that is being offered they end up inhaling ether instead of the fragrance. The ether renders them unconscious and at that point they are attached.

However, there don't appear to be any confirmed incidents to substantiate the stories. The closest case is that of Bertha Johnson of Alabama who reported to police in November 1999 that she was robbed of $800. she claimed this was after sniffing a cologne sample offered to her by a stranger which caused her to pass out in her car. However, when her blood was tested there were no foreign substances present.

It likely that the perfume hoax developed from this story and the details changed over time with the cologne becoming perfume and the knockout drug, which was originally non-specific, becoming ether. All sorts of versions of the perfume hoax have shown up all over the world from Northern Ireland to New Zealand in lots of different varieties even including terrorist versions.

Unfortunately, many email readers will continue to pass along this erroneous information, creating more paranoia and fear. At least until the next hoax is created!

About the Author

Jade Honeywell writes regularly on womens beauty and health matters. For information about discontinued perfumes, perfume bottles or about buying fragrances such as jennifer lopez perfume, at discount prices, click on the links to visit her website.