A NEW lottery scam is aiming to trick Bermuda residents into giving away their banking details.

The fraud unit of the Bermuda Police Service is warning that a letter that appears to be from a European country is telling recipients they have won a cash prize.

In order to receive their winnings, the letter tells people they must provide personal details, including copies of a passport or driving licence, as well as bank account details. In addition, the letter suggests that ten per cent of the value of the winnings should be returned to the lottery's "foreign operations manager" to facilitate the transfer of funds.

Concerned local residents have already handed more than a dozen of the letters to the police.

"We would like to advise the public that this correspondence is not legitimate and that individuals and businesses should not reply to these requests for personal or banking information," said a police statement.