With the rapid expansion of global trade and the increasing complexity of products, the problem of counterfeit goods has become a serious economic, security, and health challenge. Traditional security methods, such as holograms and complex printing techniques, are no longer sufficient to meet today's needs due to their increasing susceptibility to replication. In this context, nanomaterials, owing to their unique physical and chemical properties, have great potential for designing a new generation of anti-counterfeit adhesives and labels with exceptionally high security levels. This review article comprehensively investigates and analyzes four main categories of nanomaterial-based anti-counterfeit adhesives: (1) fluorescence-based adhesives, which use optical signals for information encryption; (2) surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-based adhesives, which generate nearly uncloneable codes; (3) photonic crystal adhesives, which operate based on structural colors and responses to environmental stimuli; and (4) smart self-healing adhesives, which ensure the longevity and durability of security labels by repairing physical damage. In each section, the working mechanisms, key materials, advanced encryption strategies, and existing challenges are discussed, followed by an examination of the future perspective of these technologies.