PEOPLE hoping to become millionaires after attending a workshop in York were warned today: "Be very careful."

An American multi-millionaire has written to York residents to say they too can learn how to amass their own personal fortunes if they attend a free "No Catch, No Gimmicks" seminar at a city hotel next week.

"I'm not talking about a little nest egg," says Russ Whitney, who claims he has made millions of dollars investing in US property and wants to teach others in York how to safely invest and amass more wealth than they dreamed possible.

Liz Levett, City of York Council's trading standards manager, today advised people attending the seminar to be very careful, listen to what is said, but avoid signing up for anything on the spot.

A Whitney spokeswoman said today that people attending the workshop would be invited to pay about £2,000 - a heavily discounted fee - to attend an intensive three-day seminar at a future date, giving further information on how to invest in property.

She said anyone signing up would have a seven-day cooling off period during which they could change their minds.

Updated: 11:15 Wednesday, May 07, 2003