FreeLotto Exposed — Will You Get Paid or It’s Just a Big Free Lotto Scam?
FreeLotto Review
FreeLotto.com (FreeLotto.site at the moment) is a sweepstakes site that awards members cash and other prizes including cars. People register as a member and then pick their numbers. Okay, maybe it’s not quite that simple, but FreeLotto.com claims to have to date awarded over $95 million. People don’t need a credit card so how does FreeLotto.com make money and how is it able to pay winnings? That’s the big question. Get ready to have your email address flooded with promotional material, spam, and other links to sites that might cost money.
Is TheLotter legit in some parts of the USA?
What Is FreeLotto?
The site was established in 1999 and is owned by PlasmaNet Inc., a company based in New York, USA. This sweepstakes site is not a place to purchase lottery tickets. Players can play six games daily and register up to 10 accounts.
After choosing their numbers for each game, players click on the banner ad of a sponsor and answer a multiple-choice question or click on the FreeBet button. From time to time, FreeLotto.com may ask brief questions about buying preferences. The home site is in English, but FreeLotto also has Spanish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Suomi, and Swedish versions.
First Impressions
It’s evident that something isn’t right the moment you visit the FreeLotto website. The design is outdated, and it pretty much looks like the popup banners that used to plague our computer screens some time ago. Grandiose promises are made right on the homepage, and FreeLotto promises you that you can win more than one million dollars the moment you sign up. Websites that get started with such promises aren’t the most trustworthy ones (unless they can state rather clearly how such opportunities come about).
The homepage features the names and pictures of people that have supposedly become millionaires using FreeLotto. We tried to run a quick online check and figure out whether these people are real and if they’d won money.
We went at random with Isabelle Bradley, who supposedly won 10 million dollars through the website. Interestingly enough, no media or news website has reported such a spectacular win. After all, if it were that simple to become a millionaire, the chances are that the media would jump on the bandwagon immediately.
It’s exciting to point out that the name has taken us to a website called ScamVictimsUnited (uh-oh, not a good start)! The forum features tens of accounts written by people that tried to replicate Isabelle’s success but were unable to claim their FreeLotto prizes.
Alright, maybe there weren’t any reports about Isabelle. This is why we decided to search for a second FreeLotto millionaire. According to the website, Zhivko Zhelev from Bulgaria won 100 million dollars. Now, Bulgaria is a small European country, and it has some of the lowest salaries in the EU. Such a massive winning is big news, and at least a few media should have covered it. There’s whatsoever, no information about such a millionaire.
The final thing we tried to do is reverse the Google image search for Zhivko’s photo. This approach would at least confirm that the person is real. Unfortunately, the picture appears solely on the FreeLotto website. There’s no Facebook profile or another account that features the picture. The same applies to Isabelle’s picture.
Who Can Play at FreeLotto.com?
FreeLotto.com lists under its rules the countries people can NOT play from. Besides underlining, that no one can play from “the United States of America Department of State Trading with the Enemies Countries list”, – there are also state restrictions for some of the USA and Quebec in Canada. A few other countries are listed as not being allowed to participate under the Rules section.
FreeLotto.com – The Catch
This site is supported by advertising, promotions, surveys, and other communication that funds the prizes and pays Freelotto.com. Though they don’t explicitly say they will share your email account with third parties, it is implied that there are also links to other opportunities.
It’s also interesting to point out that if you supposedly win, you don’t get any information about it through the website or your account there. No, no – that would be too simple and legitimate! Rather, you get an email notification in the form of “First name, last name, YOU HAVE WON!” Does that ring a bell? It pretty much looks like the mail lottery scams we write about so frequently.
Also, you’re supposed to wait for a transaction number that will supposedly give you access to the money. There’s no direct transfer of funds because FreeLotto doesn’t ask for your financial information and doesn’t credit money to your account. As you can see, believing that you’ll get any money in this very, very complex method is definitely a stretch of the imagination.
The website doesn’t make a single mention of the exact mechanism by which the money’s going to be paid. Its FAQ section features a convoluted explanation that doesn’t make any sense. In summary, any website that doesn’t have a specific and clearly explained payment method is to be avoided.
FreeLotto.com Customer Support
The site only provides a PO Box located in the State of New York, USA. There is no phone number, email address, or live chat. All communication is conducted through an online form. As there is no need to purchase anything (or so you think), there are no payment options.
Your Inbox Under Siege
FreeLotto.com works with partners and advertisers to survive. It is only natural to expect that after registering, you will be at the mercy of these companies. You’ve given them permission for the value of promises of prizes and money. You provide your name and address. There are reports about being unable to unsubscribe once you have registered your personal details online. Some players have also said they have had continual problems even after they canceled their membership with FreeLotto.com [complaintsboard.com].
FreeLotto Complaints
Usually, it takes a bit of work to dig up complaints about the online lottery and sweepstake vendors, but ripoffreport.com is an excellent starting point. The amount and range of complaints are quite extensive.
Some players commented they were unable to redeem a prize, as the small print in the Terms and Conditions states that you would need to contact them with specific information at a precise time and date. Other comments include the password reset link did not respond to multiple requests and some affiliates reported that they had sent loads of traffic to Freelotto.com but did not get paid for their efforts [epinions.com].
Now about the LottoExposed.com experience. Look, what we got a couple of days ago. Oops, it looks like we have won one million pounds – NOT! Stay away from such ‘good news,’ folks!
Why You Should Register with FreeLotto
Pros:
It’s Free
It’s a Sweepstake
Why You Shouldn’t Register with FreeLotto
Cons:
No Contact Details
No Customer Service
No Information
Information about Winners Is Largely Falsified
There isn’t a Clear Explanation about how a Prize Can Be Claimed – Long and Convoluted FAQ Section
It May Be Very Difficult, Even Impossible to Unsubscribe from Their Spam Emails
Is FreeLotto Legit?
I don’t think I have ever seen that many diverse complaints about an online sweepstakes/lottery site. The fact that there is no direct way to contact Freelotto.com makes this all the more serious. There is no street address or telephone number; only their online form. Worse, there is every indication that your contact details will be shared so you’ll not be sure who will/could contact you next.
If you want to get involved in winning money online, stick with the tried and true online lottery sites, and pay for your tickets. The bottom line is that you usually get what you pay for – though in this case paying nothing might actually get you an Inbox full of spam emails.
Kieran
Once I have unsubscribed can they still pass on my information. I subscribed then instantly unsubbed after reading this and I don’t want any harassment letters or anything…
J Klunk
We have been playing FreeLotto for years. When you win, you must check their site for how to claim the winnings, they are not automatically sent to you. We have won small amounts in the past $1, $5, etc. and they pay out the prizes in 60-90 days.
We have recently won $300 from having 5 of 6 numbers in the $1 million drawing. We were curious to see if they really pay out the larger sums. We have never signed up for their FAST autoplay service, so we never paid them a dime, we just go to the site each day to play the 6 games for free. We did receive the $300 check, but it took a long time after we submitted the required forms and our information. It probably took about 3 1/2 months. My husband then won their TGIF special $1K drawing that takes place on Fridays. He almost missed the winning email they sent because it went to his spam folder, but luckily, he noticed it. After sending in the required information, we waited and waited. We were concerned about not receiving the winnings, so we called numerous time, emailed numerous times, etc. We also needed to know if we were going to get it so we could claim it on our tax forms. We finally got information that the check was sent when we got frustrated and contacted the BBB. They were required to respond to the complaint. We finally did receive the check, but it took 4 months after the actual winning date.
I don’t think that anything about FreeLotto is a scam, but they have TERRIBLE customer service and tend to ignore emails and voicemails as well. It’s a shame because it really is a nice opportunity to win money without having to pay to play. We will continue to play, hoping to win more, but after our poor contact with the company, we did contact them to suggest better attentiveness to customer questions about winnings. I don’t know if they will improve on that front, but we’ll see. The site is easy to use, but chasing down your winnings is a little more complicated. We very much appreciate the Plasmanet company for allowing us to win money, and it is free to play if you don’t want to sign up for their autoplay service. I hope they take complaints about customer contact problems seriously.
firemannurse,au
Don’t ever remember subscribing to the site, about two weeks now, no wins, upgrades do costs, in Australia, if you win a prize such as a multi-million dollar one, you will be subjected to a massive tax on it, as it is an overseas lottery, and therefore not exempt from lottery winnings taxes. Currently in Australia, lottery wins are tax free, unless you invest and earn interest in a bank account, and then normal tax laws apply. If your playing this lottery in Australia, be aware of this law. Up to 52% of your winnings will be taxed!!!
I hope this gonna save from losing several bucks of innocent people like me from scams.
Fadz Lee
Freelotto.com Scam:
Actually initially Freelotto.com was genuine. I had been playing for about two decades and yes I actually received cheques for even a few dollars win. Draw results are directly based on one of the official government state lottery so players can verify their free bet and Freelotto.com have no way of cheating.
But slowly they changed the format, removed the usual ads, started introducing paying lotto and made things difficult for those who wanted to play for free ( for example: whenever you hit the ‘click here to play for free’ it will immediately transferred them to the ‘Freelotto’ add site enticing you to subscribe and generally tried hard to frustrate the regular free players and pushed them towards subscribing). And on the website the claim that results are based on the state draw is conspicuously and suddenly missing which means they have their own computerised draw which they can manipulate to their own advantage assuming they actually did make a draw. And you will notice the pictures of those recent winners actually had been there for more than a decade. Recent? No way.
Yes, Freelotto.com is now absolutely a scam.