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Abstract Identifying and quantifying fuel adulteration is challenging because the adulterants usually resemble the fuels or their components. They are blended disproportionately and often evade detection through most test methods under the product's quality control (QC) regime. The conventional automotive fuels comprise complex hydrocarbons in the form of a mixture that can easily accommodate adulterants similar to the fuel. Transportation fuels are consumed in massive quantities worldwide, and despite a well‐established regulatory framework, adulteration remains prevalent in many parts of the world. There has been an increased concern about this issue in developing countries due to the lack of organized research and the limited availability of sophisticated equipment. Petroleum analytical researchers have been focusing on detecting low to moderate concentrations of adulterants in fuels, and many test methods with significantly improved detection limits and ranges have been developed. Given the challenges in studying fuel adulteration cases, enforcing and verifying compliance with regulatory specifications can be particularly tricky. Only a few QC standard test methods can be used for a preliminary assessment of fuel adulteration; however, no test is specifically designed to detect the adulteration of transportation fuels. Therefore, significant attention is necessary to encourage the development of test methods that can explicitly determine the fuel adulterants. Thus, research in this direction relies heavily on newer, simpler, cost‐effective, accurate, and efficient analytical methods.