Chicago YouTuber charged with swapping luxury perfumes for modeling clay, making thousands on refunds

A Chicago man is facing charges of mail fraud and theft for allegedly buying luxury perfumes online, swapping the bottles for modeling clay, then resealing and returning them for a refund.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office said their Organized Retail Crime Unit was contacted by Nordstrom in March about luxury fragrances that had been shipped back to them as returns. Nordstrom told police the original product had been removed from the box and replaced with modeling clay, then the boxes had been carefully resealed so that they looked like they had never been opened.

The sheriff's office began investigating, dubbing their work "Operation Eau de Fraud." By reviewing financial, internet, shipping and other records, they were able to identify a suspect, 30-year-old Philp Carter of Chicago.

The sheriff's office said Carter would order thousands of dollars of high-end fragrances online at a time. Then, after they shipped, he'd contact the retailers to return them. Police said he'd take the original bottles out of the boxes, replace them with modeling clay or used bottles, then reseal the packages and ship them back to the retailer, receiving a refund for his purchase.

The sheriff's office also said they found Carter has a YouTube channel dedicated to fragrances, and videos in which he displays his collection of cologne bottles.

Police said they executed a search warrant at Carter's home in the 5200 block of West Hutchinson Street on Wednesday, during which they found 714 fragrances worth an estimated $250,000, boxes that had been resealed and were ready to ship, packages that contained modeling clay instead of the product, more modeling clay, a heat gun, glue and packaging materials.

Carter was taken into custody and subsequently charged with three felony counts of mail fraud and three misdemeanor counts of theft by deception. His next court date was not immediately known.