Posing as a beauty industry supplier, she traveled across the countryside, convincing villagers to make a cheese that could then be sold to cosmetics companies for use as a secret ingredient

in three years of running con games in South America, she may have scammed as many as 27,000 people out of up to $300 million

The racket was incredibly simple. Basically, Van Erpe charged her Chilean customers €300 ($388) for a cheese-making kit that contained cheese-making equipment, lab tools, and Yo Flex, a commercially-available yogurt culture

Using the kits and locally-harvested milk, the villagers produced cheese, which Van Erpe agreed to collect and resell

Van Erpe initially honored her contract. Buying the cheese for thousands of dollars, she poured money into the villages, inspiring more and more people to get involved