After being accused and found guilty of misleading its players, FreeLotto.com has been ordered by the New York Attorney General to pay its customers over $1.5 million in penalties and costs. The lottery site, owned by PlasmaNet, apparently used misleading banners and signed players up for extra costs without their knowledge it was found. FreeLotto.com will also need to refund any players who ask for their money back within a 6 month time period.

“PlasmaNet’s advertising campaign was a classic bait-and-switch scheme. They played with people’s emotions and used half truths to trick consumers,” said Attorney General Andrew M Cuomo. “The integrity of the marketplace in New York State is undermined when businesses engage in this type of deception, whether it takes place in a storefront or on the Internet. Today’s agreement puts an end to these practices and provides restitution to consumers who were taken in by this scheme.”