Complaint Review: PlasmaNet

The email you received is much like the sweepstakes you see in the mail, with a fake cheque that has your name on it and is made out for a large sum of money. This is just to intice you to participate. When they say you are a pending winner, or that you have won pending the submission of your Transaction Serial Number, etc, all that means is IF you participate in the lottery, you have a chance to win the prize indicated. That's all. It is not a scam.

Freelotto sends you these from time to time to try to get you to sign up for FAST, the automatic subscription service (which, by the way, I don't recommend, since you can play for free by taking a few minutes of your time each day). Although the content changes, as well as the from name, it is always basically the same thing, and becomes easily recognizable. The important email will always say it comes from "Webmaster", and the subject line reads "Freelotto Confirmation TSN" followed by your ticket number, which you must hold on to in case you win.

You must check your numbers yourself after each draw, and if you have won, you must forward your ticket email to prizeclaim@freelotto.com

You will then receive an email from FreeLotto indicating that they confirm that you have won (if indeed you have). I know this as I have won $1 and did get a reply from the prize claim department. Here is what the email looks like (I have removed the TSN for security reasons):

"Dear Daniel,

Congratulations on becoming a FreeLotto winner!

We have received your Prize Claim and have verified that you have indeed won $1.00 on May 04, 2007 while playing Classic FreeLotto. You can choose to either donate your winnings or receive a check.

You may or may not be aware that due to our winner's overwhelming generosity, FreeLotto has donated $519,180.00 to charity. We're very proud of this and our belief is that while $1, $3, or $5 will not make a major difference in anyone's life, it can be of enormous help to the many charitable organizations that do such great work.

We have gone through extensive efforts to select a wide range of well-known charitable organizations. The charities that we have selected have assured us that 100% of your donation will be used exclusively for their good work.

To date FreeLotto has awarded over $76,000,000.00 in CASH PRIZES, including 14 millionaires and FOUR $10,000,000.00 winners. Join F.A.S.T. - our automatic play service - now and NEVER MISS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN OVER $11,000,000.00 EVERY DAY!
freelotto.com/offer.asp?offer=14922&FID=XXXXXXXXX

Click here to donate your prize:
freelotto.com/offer.asp?offer=14310&FID=7e7f39974794&TSN=XXXXXXXXX

Click here to receive a check:
freelotto.com/offer.asp?offer=14909&TSN=2302545095&FID=XXXXXXXXX

If you choose to receive your prize payment, it will be mailed via first class postal mail within the next 60-90
days.

If either link is not clickable just copy it into the location bar of your browser.

IMPORTANT, THIS IS A LIMITED TIME OPPORTUNITY:
Please respond no later than June 08, 2007 to donate your winnings or to receive a check. If we do not hear from you by June 08, 2007, we will automatically send you a check.

Again, congratulations! We hope to see your name on the big winner's list very
soon.

Thank you.

Sincerely,


Kevin J. Aronin
Chairman & C.E.O.




Welcome to FreeLotto.com. We are the largest online lottery style sweepstakes site. Since 1999, we have awarded over $76,000,000 in cash and prizes. You no longer need to search the web to buy lottery tickets online. Unlike an online lottery, we don't require our users to pay to play their numbers. Here at FreeLotto.com, you can play all 6 of our games every day for a chance to win over $11,000,000. Best of all, its absolutely FREE!
Freelotto, Freelotto.com, Freelotto and Design, FreebetTM, Click 2 Win, Click Thru Plus+TM, ScreenScratcherTM are trademarks of PlasmaNet Inc. View our Privacy Policy.
Protected by U.S. Patent No. 6,454,650

PlasmaNet Inc./FreeLotto makes no representations or warranties of any nature whatsoever with respect to any product or service advertised in any promotions. Any liability for claims or damages with respect to any product or service advertised herein shall be the sole responsibility of the advertiser.

Copyright 1999-2007 PlasmaNet Inc. all rights reserved. E&OE. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without the expressed written permission of PlasmaNet Inc. is prohibited. "

You will notice this is clearly distinguishable from the sweepstakes email.

I have yet to receive my dollar, but it has not been near the 60-90 days, so that is to be expected.

So remember folks, READ THE FINEPRINT when you sign up for something. It says very clearly in the Terms & Conditions that you will receive these emails. Also, the very first question in the Helpdesk FAQs section explains very clearly what those emails really mean.