Poisoned Perfume Samples

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Poisoned Perfume Samples - Terrorist Plot or Hoax?

By David Emery

Netlore Archive: Viral warnings claim perfume samples received in the mail have proven to be poisoned and are responsible for the deaths of at least seven people.

Description: Viral rumor / Hoax 
Circulating since: Nov. 2001
Status: FALSE (see details below)

2014 example: 
As shared on Facebook, Feb. 6, 2014:

2010 example: 
Forwarded email contributed by Christle B., June 22, 2010:

**High Priority* Please spend 1 minute and read on... News from Gleneagles Hospital URGENT!!! From Gleneagles Hospital, seven women have died after inhaling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers, etc., throw them away. The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act. They will not announce it in the news because they do not want to create panic or give the terrorists new ideas. Send this to all your friends and family members. Diane J Ford  Office of the Chief of Police  Office of Risk Management  101 M Street, SW  Washington, DC

2009 example: 
Forwarded email contributed by an AOL user, Dec. 5, 2009:

URGENT NEWS News from Ampang Gleneagles Hospital Important news to pass it on ! Please spend 1 minute and read on... News from Gleneagles Hospital (Ampang) URGENT !!!!! from Gleneagles Hospital Limited Seven women have died after inhaling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc. throw them away. The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act. They will not announce it on the news because they do not want to create panic or give the terrorists new ideas. Send this to all your friends and family members.. Gleneagles Hospital Limited  Human Resource Department

2001 example: 
Forwarded email contributed by O. Reese, Dec. 8, 2001:

I feel that it is important to inform you of very important information that I was told. Seven women have died after smelling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc... throw it away. The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act. They will not announce it on the news because they do not want to alarm us of any danger. Send this to all your friends and family members. Stay well!!!!!

Analysis: This has proven to be an amazingly resilient rumor, having first appeared in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the rash of anthrax mailings that followed. The wording of text messages and Facebook postings circulating as recently as June 2010 is nearly identical to that of forwarded emails dating from November 2001.

It was false then, and it's false now.

The basic premise is reminiscent of "The Knockout Perfume," an urban legend making the email rounds since 1999. In that story, miscreants supposedly used ether-tainted perfume to knock out their victims before robbing them. The current rumor also echoes the "Klingerman Virus" hoax, in which recipients were warned to beware of deadly substances in harmless-looking packages arriving in the mail.

The Dillards connection

The timing of the original message suggests an interesting theory of origin. In early November 2001, Dillards department stores issued a nationwide press release announcing that its 2001 Christmas catalog would contain perfume samples in the form of "a talcum-like powder permeated with the essence of the fragrance." The company said it wanted consumers to be aware, given the intense publicity surrounding recent anthrax attacks, that the powder contained in these mailings was completely harmless. Less than three weeks later the email rumor erupted, possibly sparked by confusion stemming from the announcement itself, or by the arrival of actual perfume samples in people's mailboxes.

By way of Asia

The most recent version of the rumor comes to us by way of Asia, the tip-off being a prefacing statement attributing its provenance to "Gleneagles Hospital" (or "Ampang Gleneagles Hospital"). According to a November 9, 2002 report in the Malay Mail, this variant bounced from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (each of which boasts a Gleneagles Hospital) and beyond in the space of a few months. A years-old statement on the website of Gleneagles Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur dismisses the message as a hoax.

The rumor came full circle in 2009 when the Gleneagles variant began circulating in the U.S.A.