Crossword Genius

Perfume deception taking in millions (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

smell

'perfume' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'deception taking in millions' is the wordplay.
'deception' becomes 'sell' (old-fashioned term for a hoax or con).
'taking in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'millions' becomes 'm' (abbreviation).
'sell' going around 'm' is 'SMELL'.

(Other definitions for smell that I've seen before include "Scent" , "Nasal sense" , "Unpleasant odour" , "Sniff" , "Perceive through the nose" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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