Criminals are using drugged 'perfume' to rob victims.

See the latest version here.

See the original story here.

No.

The one and only reported instance of a drugged perfume being used to subdue a victim occurred November 8, 1999, when Bertha Johnson of Mobile, Alabama reported that she was approached by a women offering a perfume for sale. Johnson smelled the perfume and awoke thirty minutes later and two miles away minus $500 of her own money and $300 of her employer's.

Johnson reported the crime to the police who tested her to determine the substance used. Unfortunately, the tests failed to find any unusual substance.

Mobile police still have not arrested a suspect, but lacking any physical evidence it is unlikely that they will close the case.

Whatever happened to Bertha Johnson, what is certain is that this is a rare, possibly unique report of a crime of this nature.

Is the recent version of the knockout perfume story related to the strange case of Bertha Johnson? Possibly, though it is difficult to determine the precise origin of the more recent story. Such is the nature of urban legends.

• "Victim didn't detect any strange odor" from the Mobile Register
• "WOMAN DAZED AFTER BEING ASKED TO SMELL UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE" from the Mobile Police Department
• "Scratch and Sniff" from the Urban Legends Reference Pages

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