A New York Times article plays up

Drawing on remembered fear of the anthrax scare, an e-mail hoax is alleging that seven women have died after inhaling few perfume samples they received in the mail.

I wrote the original debunking on 12/16, but updated it on 10/24 with new information from the CDC (which further debunks the hoax).

Here's the original e-mail:

Date Captured: 4/6/2002

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."

When confronted about forwarding e-mails to people, one of the things I hear most often is "well, you never know". Well folks, in this case, we damn well do know. Even without having searched on line, I knew this e-mail was a hoax. In the post-9/11 world in which we all live, it is impossible for seven women to have been killed by perfume samples without being bombarded by the news every hour of every day, from every imaginable news source.