A top businessman yesterday warned of a potential scam targeting Bermuda and involving an Australian lottery.

The businessman said: "This thing asks for money or a credit card number -- I didn't send mine and nobody else should either.'' The Australian National Lottery Winners Service entry forms use a Richmond, British Columbia, Post Office Box as a return address.

But the firm -- according to its letterhead -- appears to be based in Cologne, Germany.

It claims the recipient of the letter -- for a $40 fee -- can join a group of 100 "specially-selected residents from around the world'' in entering the AUS$2.3 million (US$1.4 million) Australian draw.

It offers 40 sets of numbers to be entered into eight of the Australian draws with the chance of a share of the big prize.

The businessman -- whose form was sent to his Hamilton Post Office Box -- added he had no idea how the firm got his address.

A Police spokesman said: "We would just warn the public to be very careful before joining in this type of unsolicited scheme without first checking whether it's genuine.'' The Royal Gazette faxed the number underneath the German office address of the firm asking for further information on the scheme -- but did not get a reply.

The Police spokesman added: "This type of letter is very frequent and it's very difficult to determine which are genuine and which aren't.

"In this particular case, certainly the offer seems too good to be true and we would warn people to be very careful.'' He added: "Also, people should not give credit card information, numbers or any other personal information which could be used for fraudulent purposes.'' The Australian offer is the latest in a series of schemes targeting Bermuda.

Last year, Police issued a warning about a letter scam from a man claiming to be Nigerian Prince Obi Ezeh, postmarked New York.

The `Prince' -- who said he was a senior accountant with the Federal Ministry of Aviation in Lagos, Nigeria -- offered a 45 percent share of a multi-million dollar amount if people forwarded their bank account details.

The year before, begging letters from an untraceable "leper colony'' in the Philippines circulated around the Island.

Other schemes which have surfaced are bogus claims from people claiming to be officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

All involved variations on the theme of millions of dollars in return for the recipient's bank account being used to deposit funds -- funds ranging between $10 million and $25 million.