Joan thought she found the ideal job. The stay-at-home mother from the Twin City area could raise her toddler and bring in some extra cash for the family. She only had to receive boxes, repackage them and mail them for a shipping company.

After a few weeks, her employer, a man she knew as John Willner, rewarded her by lining up another work-from-home opportunity - receiving money orders and forwarding the money.

"Naive as I was, I didn't ask questions," said Joan, who The Pantagraph agreed not to name because, it turned out, she was the victim of a scam.

The merchandise in the packages she was sent were bought with stolen credit cards. The money orders were sent by people duped by a Web site created by a fictional seller of small electronics.

The packages and money reached addresses in Russia and Kyrgyzstan, a country bordering China that was formerly part of the Soviet Union. "John Willner" was likely an identity made up by a person in Russia, along with a fake division of a shipping company and the fake electronics dealer's Web site.

McLean County Detective Cliff Rushing said the woman is considered a victim, not an accomplice, in the scams, and she hasn't been charged with any crime. But he didn't know what civil liability she faced, and said her story should be a cautionary one.

"She was as much a victim in this as the other people," said Rushing, adding the woman kept good records and was helpful in the investigation. She also earned about $500 during the three months before the fraud was discovered.

In the end, the money wasn't worth what she went through, she said, referring to being investigated by federal, state and local law enforcement before the trail led overseas.

"We don't have the resources to go to Russia to follow up on this," Rushing said.

Joan became involved in the two scams in mid-May, when an overseas con artist needed an address in the U.S., said Rushing.

Scammers know it's difficult to convince Americans to send money orders to a person in Russia. And they know it's a red flag for credit card companies if a U.S. cardholder suddenly buys high-end small electronics and ships them to an address in Kyrgyzstan.

Joan said she was browsing online for jobs she could do at home when she either found a Web site or an e-mail indicating a job for DHL Shipping. DHL International is a legitimate shipping company. Rushing said the con artist just used the existing company's name to look more legitimate.

Stay-at-home moms targeted

U.S. Postal Inspector Wanda Shipp, of the agency's Chicago division, said the scheme that used Joan is a popular one: Fraudsters frequently target stay-at-home mothers. "You'd be surprised how some of these scams start in a chat room," Shipp said.

Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Russia and Canada are among popular locations for scammers to ship goods bought with stolen credit cards, Shipp added.

In a global initiative, the inspection service seized more than 540,000 fake checks worth more than $2.1 billion from January to August, Shipp said. Of 77 people arrested, 60 were in the Netherlands, 16 were in Nigeria and one was in Canada, she said.

A McLean County Sheriff's Department report says Joan received $25 and the shipping cost for each package she received and sent on. Joan said her contact would send her mailing labels by e-mail, and tell her to ship everything to him, including records from the previous shipper.

She received a new box every few days. After a few weeks, "Willner" said he had another opening, she said. This involved her receiving payments for a consumer electronics seller at a post office box she set up.

She would then resend the money to Russia.

"Of course, I was interested," Joan said. "I thought I could double my money."

This second scam involved a Web site advertising video game systems, digital cameras and other small electronics at prices $100 to $150 cheaper than anywhere else, including online auction sites, Rushing said. There was no intent to actually send the items, only to collect money from people until the scam was shut down, he said.

How the scam worked

People visiting the site were told to send money orders to Joan. She would fill out new money orders, take a percentage for herself and send the remainder to at least three men identified in police reports as Vladimir Ivanov, Dmitry Kascheew and Vladislav Karavashkin.

Scammers used a customer service e-mail address to buy time when customers complained that their merchandise hadn't arrived.

Rushing said Joan started asking family and friends about the legitimacy of the business about the same time a U.S. postal inspector contacted her in early August about the electronics site.

When Western Union officials asked Joan about her money orders, she said she asked "Willner" if everything was on the up-and-up. He responded that "Americans tend to disbelieve Russians because of the Cold War" and everything was legitimate, she said.

Rushing said Joan tried to call and fax "Willner" with no success.

After investigators determined the operation was a scam, Rushing said Joan handed over un-cashed money orders, receipts and shipping records. The scam site has since shut down, and the Web address is now owned by someone in Samoa.

"It doesn't stop them from opening another company under another name at any second," Rushing said. "It's endless as the Web."