"Operation Eau de Fraud" takes down Chicago YouTuber's $250,000 luxury fragrance scam, sheriff says
A Chicago man has been charged with ripping off nearly a quarter of a million dollars' worth of designer perfumes as part of an elaborate scheme that investigators said went on for months.
The Cook County Sheriff's Office zeroed in on the case they dubbed "Operation Eau de Fraud" after the high-end department store Nordstrom realized one customer kept repeatedly buying and returning large amounts of designer fragrances.
When it came to restock the product, Nordstrom determined they had been duped.
Philip Carter, 29, has been charged with three counts of mail fraud and three counts of theft by deception.
Carter runs a YouTube channel where he reviews various perfumes and colognes, and would often ask viewers to subscribe and donate.
"Become an official Patreon and you may be eligible to win yourself a free fragrance," he said in one video.
The sheriff's office said the problem was the fragrances he was giving out were all stolen.
An arrest report shows he "placed an online Nordstrom order for 39 fragrances" totaling $11,915.
Once the items arrived, he called and "stated the fragrances were going to be a gift, but nobody wanted them."
The report shows Carter claimed, "they're in perfect condition and haven't been opened."
But when the shipment returned, Nordstorm employees "discovered the fragrances were tampered," "bottles were missing," and "empty boxes were filled with clay."
In March, investigators said carter went back online. This time he purchased "8 fragrances in the amount of $2,145."
Like clockwork, he wanted to return them. But this time the report revealed video of Carter driving to the Old Orchard Mall in Skokie and walking into the Nordstrom. Sales associates "opened the fragrances in front of Carter and observed they had been tampered and referred Carter to contact the customer service line."
He eventually returned three of eight fragrances. While trying to return items at the Nordstrom at Old Orchard, records show one day before, he placed a third online order buying "4 fragrances in the amount of $3,085."
Three days after leaving the Nordstrom in Skokie, Carter is accused calling the service line "where he explained that he needed to return all of purchased fragrances, but did not indicate why."
This week, Carter got a surprise when Cook County investigators with the organized crime unit served a search warrant at his Portage Park apartment.
Inside, they said they found 714 fragrances with an estimated retail value of $250,000.
Investigators said many of the boxes were resealed and ready to ship thanks to heat gun and glue to make it appear the boxes were not tampered.
He received the full refund for the fragrances he returned, but Nordstrom received bottles full of clay or empty containers, while some containers had unknown liquid.
Carter is accused of defrauding Nordstrom of just under $15,000, but $250,000 worth of fragrances were found in his apartment. So investigators are checking to see how many other stores could be impacted by his scheme.
