Retired Firefighter Wins FreeLotto.com Jackpot

MUNSTER, Indiana – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Thomas Pyplatz, a 57-year-old retired firefighter from Munster, was understandably skeptical when he was contacted by FreeLotto.com recently with news that he had won $100,000 in a free online daily lottery drawing. Pyplatz knew that he had indeed signed up as a FreeLotto FAST player, in which his numbers are randomly selected for him every day. But, the memory of falling victim to a telephone scam a short while before was very fresh in his mind.

"I just didn't believe it," Pyplatz said of the letter he received from FreeLotto telling him of his good fortune. "But they provided all sorts of information and after I filled out some paperwork they sent me a check." Pyplatz said it took a while for his first installment check to clear at his local bank, which also was wary because of the many Internet scams being perpetrated on unsuspecting individuals.

But the FreeLotto check was very real, and now Pyplatz is making plans to spend the first of his five installments. "It's a nice gift, and I'm going to pay off some bills and maybe my truck," he said, adding that he might treat himself a bit when future installment checks arrive. "It feels good to finally have the money," said Pyplatz, who served 25 years in the Hammond, IN fire department before retiring.

Kevin Aronin, CEO of New York-based PlasmaNet, the parent company of FreeLotto, explained that getting the check into Pyplatz's hands was an exercise in determination.

"Thomas won FreeLotto in August 2005," Aronin said. "We sent paperwork notifying him of his $100,000 win but we never heard back within the prescribed 90 day timeframe. Finally, we tracked him down by phone earlier this year and I personally conveyed the good news. But we still had difficulty in getting the paperwork to him for reasons the post office could not explain. Finally, after months of trying to get Thomas his money, it all worked out. We worked long and hard to find Thomas and make sure he received the money that was due him, and we are thrilled that it all worked out in the end. FreeLotto will do whatever it takes to find its winners!"