POLICE are warning people to beware of a new Internet scam after a canoe club was almost conned out of £650.

A quick-thinking member of Teesdale Canoe Club alerted police after a "too good to be true" offer was made to the club when it tried to sell one of its boats online.

Chris Roberts, from Barnard Castle, had advertised a boat for sale for £300 on an Internet website recommended by the British Canoe Union.

He received an e-mail from an interested buyer, who wanted to pay for it in an unusual way.

A cheque would be sent to Mr Roberts for £1,000 and once that had cleared, he was asked to send the buyer £650 through a Western Union money transfer, supposedly making the canoe club an extra £50.

One of the man's business associates would then come and pick the boat up.

He said: "It was written in a kind of 'pidgin English'.

"At first I thought it might be some sort of money laundering scheme.

"The site is a reputable site and you think that if the cheque has cleared then you're OK."

The e-mail was referred to the economic crime unit at Durham Constabulary's headquarters and it transpired that the cheque would most likely have come from a stolen, or forged cheque book.

Once it had been cashed, the canoe club may have had to repay the money and the £650, which had been sent to the buyer, would have been untraceable.

Detective Inspector Colin Gibson, of the economic crime unit, said: "This is called the 'cashback scheme' and it's been quite prevalent in the North-East, although this is the first in Teesdale.

"The e-mail is usually from West Africa, although we believe they're in collaboration with some people located in the M25 area.