Perfume Scam

[Wispy68]

My mum sent me an e-mail this afternoon, which warned of a scam in which (usually) two men are approaching lone women in car parks, and asking them what 'lovely' perfume they are wearing, then asking them whether they would like to sample a few perfumes which they are selling. The woman is then meant to sniff the perfume, pass out, and is then robbed of cash, cards, etc. I've looked on the internet and it appears to be an urban myth. Does anyone know of this actually happening, or is someone just having a laugh?

[flirty41]

We had an email through at work about this. Apparently, a woman was approached in a car park in Croydon or Crawley, but she had heard about this scam and just walked away, warning another woman who was in the area to keep away too. I don't know if it's true or not.

[froggequene]

Weirdly enough I got the same email myself yesterday, I always delete similar emails because I think they're little more then myth but I suppose like all urban myths it's just a reminder to be cautious.

[tief]

A very sensible answer froggequene - more people should take a leaf out of your book re these emails (ie. don't pass it on). It's a pity that decent folk, who may not have had much experience of this type of thing on the internet, get scared just because some turkey out there hasn't got a life. Nicola Jane, wait and see if it hits the news, otherwise delete and ignore. : )

[bobbobley]

I've been sent this twice in the past year or so (and I don't even wear perfume!) and can only assume its a hoax to generate loads of email traffic as I haven't heard of anyone who this has happened to, or not mention of it on any news sites.

[Cetti]

In a similar vein I was almost sucked into the Africa Scam .My first meeting with these vile people was an e-mail from a 'woman telling me that her baby would die if I did not give her details of my bank account'. Being a soft touch for a sob story I would have done it if my son hadn't convinced me it was indeed a scam - since then I have wised up , but it's not that easy! The Perfume Scam is number 1 at the moment http://www.snopes.com/ as you already know. What sad lives these creatures must lead inflicting stress on others for a laugh - I'd like to get my hands on them!!!

[Blender]

Can I just prompt a bit of caution by saying never even open them. Nowadays spammers are looking for email addresses to use to send spam and viruses from. If you open them there could be a likelyhood that your email address will be reflected back as a legitimate one. If I dont't know who's sent me an email I erase without opening. I may lose a couple but it's worth it

[FTVS]

Have you seen the one about the drug that unscrupulous men pop into your drink, then rape you... except the warning here is that this pill also sterilises you forever! Who thought of that and what a horrible "prank"

[cisco]

Definitely an urban myth: everybody's heard about it, but nobody actually knows somebody who's experienced it