Win millions online? Sound too good to be true? What's the scoop on online lotteries?

The advice "buyer beware" definitely applies. You really have to read the fine print. I discovered that many online lotteries are vague about the exact jackpot amounts. Sure they advertise mega millions but if you read the fine print tucked away in a corner of one of the site's pages, you'll see that the actual jackpot depends on the number of tickets sold and the site doesn't necessarily mention how many tickets have been sold. In other words, the lottery site doesn't know how much their jackpot really is.

And the tickets aren't cheap. I discovered that the average price is $US10. Some lotteries, like Cyber Lotto, advertise US$1 tickets but once again the fine print reveals a minimum purchase quantity, in this case 24.

I visited a few of these mega sites to see if I really could win big. At Millions 2000 the goal is to create, through monthly draws, 2000 millionaires by January 1, 2000. Tickets are $US10 each and there's a draw on January 1, 2000 for US$50 million… potentially. The actual jackpot is based on the number of tickets sold and I couldn't find that info.

Then it was off to the Y2K Lottery. I had a hard time figuring out this site. There are several lotteries going on at any time but I couldn't find the draw dates or jackpot info. There's a draw on New Year's Day 2000 for $100,000,000… again depending on ticket sales. Well the day I visited they had sold 15 tickets so far at US$10 reach. You do the math.

Some lotteries, like Chance Place or Dream Lottery, are more like raffles. These lotteries are straightforward. You choose your prize and buy as many tickets as you like. The prizes are usually luxury cars and sports vehicles, exotic holidays and computer systems. These lotteries aren't cheap either. Ticket prices range from US$10 to US$50 depending on the prize. The odds are supposed to be quite favorable because the number of tickets sold is restricted.

So did I find any big money? Yes it's out there. One of the easiest sites to visit is Plus Lotto. All the info is organized and easy to read. How to play their lotteries is clearly explained. There's a guaranteed weekly draw for US$1 million and a ticket costs less than 65 cents. There are other lotto games on the site and there's even an hourly "Snowball" lotto which can reach up to several thousand dollars.

My advice is shop around and read the fine print, and good luck!