Objective To investigate the applicability of portable Raman spectroscopy for fast identification of counterfeit hypoglycemic agents. Methods The Raman spectra of 6 hypoglycemic agents, their corresponding reference standards and 12 common pharmaceutical excipients were detected by BW&Tek i-Raman portable spectrometer. The spectra were analyzed by three algorithms, namely, the minimized summation of first derivative of subtraction spectra algorithm, local straight-line screening (LSLS) algorithm, and modified LSLS (MLSLS) algorithm. Results Among the three algorithms, MLSLS algorithm showed the best performance, with the total sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and efficiency being 96.77%, 97.20%, 99.29%, and 96.02%, respectively. Conclusion The MLSLS algorithm, which is based on infrared spectroscopy, can be adapted to identify suspected counterfeit drugs based on portable Raman spectroscopy.