A La Mesa woman is warning others about possible reshipping scams, also known as parcel mule scams, after a work-from-home job that promised $4,200 a month had her receiving packages and reshipping them to new addresses. Heather Christie said the job came at the perfect time, offering her a way t o help pay bills while taking care of her home and son. “I had finally got it. I finally got that job, you know, and I could finally do it all,” Christie said. The monthly pay made the opportunity even more appealing. “$4,200 would be a huge blessing with my family. And then I’d actually feel like I’m doing something,” Christie said. Christie said she filled out official-looking documents and began working. Her job was to receive packages, open them, photograph the items inside and upload the pictures to an online dashboard. “The products are just weird. Puffy jacket, gaming chairs, a bracelet, odd stuff,” Christie said. La Mesa resident Heather Christie believes she was hired by a company running a reshipping scam. The dashboard would then provide Christie with a new shipping label, which she was instructed to put on the package before reshipping it to another address. Christie said there were three main rules: She had to log in three times a day Monday through Friday and once each Saturday and Sunday, report arriving packages within three hours and ship them out the same day using the new label. She was also instructed to use only the shipping labels provided to her and remove all previous shipping information from the packages. “I didn’t know people did this, so I did the first package and then I started to kind of get like, it just seemed too good to be true,” Christie said. Christie said she stopped accepting packages and began researching the operation. With more questions than answers, she contacted NBC 7 Responds for help. NBC 7 Responds emailed the company using the address listed on its website, but the message bounced back as undeliverable. An email sent to the person Christie had been communicating with received no response. A call to the phone number on the company’s website directed callers to send an email. San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Ryan Karkenny said he could not comment specifically on Christie’s situation. However, Karkenny, assistant chief of the Economic Crimes and Consumer Protection Division, described how reshipping scams generally operate. San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Ryan Karkenny explained how reshipping scams work. “You’re actually getting merchandise that was purchased illegally using someone’s stolen credit card information or stolen personal identifying information. So there’s another victim that’s on the back end of it,” Karkenny said. Karkenny said such operations can create distance between criminals and law enforcement by sending merchandise to the supposed employee’s home before it is shipped elsewhere. “Because it’s going to the employee’s house, and it’s basically creating a separation between the actual criminals and law enforcement, so it’s really hard to trace,” Karkenny said. Because stolen merchandise can be involved in reshipping scams, Karkenny said people who become involved should contact law enforcement. “In general, if you get to the point where you got yourself involved in something that you really didn’t mean to get involved in, it’s best to go to law enforcement right away and report what’s happening,” Karkenny said. Christie said she has already reported her situation to the police department and a postal inspector. It remains unclear whether the company Christie worked for was sending her stolen merchandise. Christie said she continues to receive calls and emails pressuring her to stop rejecting shipments. “You’re putting me in a position knowing that you’re not gonna get caught,” Christie said. Christie said she feels embarrassed after initially believing she had found the perfect job, but hopes her experience can help others recognize the warning signs. “That perfect job is out there. It’s just not a job that promises you a lot of money for a little bit of work. And unfortunately, I have to be more careful,” Christie said. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less