YOGA is said to be the ultimate way of attaining Enlightenment - so sneaky cyber-shysters picked the wrong target when they tried to con practitioners in York.

"They obviously think we're all rather nave," said one yoga teacher who saw right through the dodgy scam.

Improved health, emotional well-being, mental clarity and joy in living are what most people want from a yoga class.

But email scammers aren't interested in the union between body and mind. Instead, they have been trying to trick yoga teachers out of their hard-earned cash.

The con-artists bombard their targets with emails asking them to sign up for some private tuition, and agreeing a price. If the yoga teacher falls for the trick, the prospective pupil sends a cheque in advance for too much money, and asks for a refund. When the teacher pays up, the original cheque bounces.

Perceptive yoga teacher Wendy Jacob, of central York, said she had received three or four such emails. Although she spotted the danger, she still wasted time replying to them just in case they were genuine.

Wendy said: "Most yoga teachers have an email address, and we are on contact databases on the Internet.

"The first message I had I thought really was a genuine inquiry. It purported to be from a father of a 16-year-old boy whose mother had died, and he wanted to send him for regular yoga classes.

"It's an unlikely scenario, but not impossible. But one of the things they do is say things like my son is staying in Yorkshire'. Well, Yorkshire is a very big place. It just doesn't ring true."

Yoga teachers in York have been spreading the word among themselves, and a warning went out in their local newsletter. It is not known if anyone has actually fallen for the ruse.

Wendy said: "If they had done, perhaps they would be too embarrassed to say. It must have worked at least once, or they wouldn't be bothering. Perhaps they think because we teach yoga we are rather nave."

Susan Rumford, principal trading standards officer at City of York Council, said: "Our advice to businesses is straight forward. Do not give any refund until the original payment has cleared. By taking this simple precaution an unsuspecting business will not fall foul of con artists."

The email scam

Hello,
Good day to you over there, I am XXX XXX from West London. I need a teacher for my son (David) and i got your advert while surfing through the internet and i really want my child to be taught by you, as am a very busy businessman My son is living with my cousin living in Yorkshire. I want you to get back to me with following details:
1) Your years of teaching experience. Payment via check or money order, looking forward to hearing from you soonest.

2) Total cost of tutoring for 2 months (2 hours per day, and 3 times in a week.

3) Your present residence address and telephone number.

Cheers, XXX.