Police unimpressed with poison perfume hoax

Lower Hutt police are unimpressed with a hoax e-mail which claims that poisoned perfume is being sold in the area.

Police say they have received more than 120 calls or faxes from people concerned about the content.

"(It's) not that they've duped by it but they're wanting to know what police are doing about it," acting Senior Sergeant Brent Murray said.

In one version, the e-mail warns females to watch out for men offering perfume testers in the Westfield shopping mall carpark. It warns that the perfume is actually ether and that the phoney salesman go on to rob the unconscious victim.

Police were able to establish the e-mail was a hoax after finding similar letters on the Internet which were circulating in America at the start of last year. The only change was the location of the incidents.

Police say that if they identify the perpetrator, they will press charges for making a false report.

- NZPA