Perfumes are big business, and naturally, that means that counterfeit perfume is also big business. There are many reasons that you do NOT want to buy counterfeits (which look just like the real thing!) or other fakes.

For one thing, the fakes are concoctsed who-knows-where and they don't undergo any kind of testing or regulation, so they may contain all sorts of really icky ingredients, including things that you really would NOT want to put on you skin if you knew they were in there.

Counterfeit fragrance products can cause rashes and other skin problems, the actual fragrance may not smell as good as the original, and the scent usually doesn't last very long (sometimes no more than a few minutes!).

These products are put together in questionable circumstances by shady people, after all. They just want to rip you off, not provide you with a quality product. I wouldn't want to give them my money, would you? And I certainly wouldn't want to put untested, unknown chemicals on my skin!

I don't want to wear or sell counterfeits any more than you should want to buy them, so I'm extremely careful about our where I buy perfume. I'll buy the stuff only from verified, legitimate sources (because I resell, I buy wholesale), established suppliers with good reputations who provide guarantees that their goods are the real deal. There are some links on the sidebar and a couple more on the links page if you're looking for legitimate online sellers. I've listed a few of the ones I know and trust and will do business with (believe me, I won't provide links to just any old site; I have to be confident that they're really legitimate, I mean, who wants to be covered in goat pee or something?).

Just in case you want to know, you can take any perfume to any reputable department store such as (in Australia) Myer, David Jones, (or in the States) J.C. Penney, Kohls, etc., or to a speciality perfumery, and have them look at any product you receive, to verify if it is genuine. There's a checklist they use to examine the product, including the packaging as well as the actual fragrance. If you find that a perfume you've bought is counterfeit and you bought it through PayPal or some other "buyer protection" plan, you can then get a refund.

The best thing to do, though, is just try hard to make sure you're buying legitimate products to begin with, of course. Only deal with people and companies who are willing to offer you a guarantee (not just say "yeah, it's real"), who have an established business and reputation, and, in the case of online auction sites, who have other customers you can talk to and who have lots of good feedback from people who have bought from them. (And if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is!)

And now, a few links that may be of interest (updated as I find more to add):

• Customs sniffs out fake perfume - "Customs officers have intercepted 30,000 bottles of fake designer label perfume intended for sale in Australia. Officers at the Port of Melbourne found the perfume in two shipping containers from China during a routine inspection in February, but did not release details about the haul until today. If sold, the counterfeit hail could have reaped up to $2 million, the Australian Customs Service said."
• The Dangers of Fakes (PDF document) - "Counterfeit perfume can often burn your skin or leave you with a nasty rash. Tests on some fake fragrances have revealed that urine has been used as a stabiliser. Handley Brustad, Senior Trading Standards Officer at Cardiff County Council, reports:" With perfume, you really don't know what you're getting. We had one bottle of 'perfume' analysed, and found it to be pondwater with a fragrance added."
• Brazilian scientist tackle fake fragrance problem - "Fake cosmetics is a growing problem of global proportions. In Europe alone, EU customs authorities have reported that seizures of counterfeit cosmetic products, including fragrances, jumped by 800 per cent in the period 2003 - 2003, with the main hubs for the trafficking of such products found in Eastern Europe and China."
• Catching counterfeit perfumes - "Arrests during a NSW Police Crime Command raid uncovered a Sydney warehouse hiding $1 million worth of fragrances destined for the black market and online scammers."
• Chanel Counterfeit Perfumes (on eBay) - "I already have three sellers who repeatedly sell counterfeit Chanel and I would like to get them kicked off Ebay and prosecuted."
• Fake perfume, eyewear seized - "...the perfumes seized included Lancome, Hugo Boss's Deep Red, J'adore, Chanel No. 5 and a scent for men by Giorgio Armani."
• IRA plc turns from terror into biggest crime gang in Europe - "In one notorious example, a fake perfume seized at a market in Northern Ireland contained urine as a stabiliser."
• Pee Cardin - "A man who allegedly made perfume using goat urine and then sold it as Chanel No 5 and Paloma Picasso has been arrested"
• Man arrested for selling fake perfume - "...police acted following complaints that inferior perfumes were being sold at Burma Bazaar, which caused itching in users"