How One Man's Scheme Swindled Millions From McDonald's®

By Maria W.. Feb 20, 2025

Have you ever fantasized about striking it rich while munching on your favorite fast-food meal? For many, this dream seemed close to reality with the McDonald’s^® Monopoly game. But beneath the veneer of fun and instant wins lies a darker truth - a multi-million-dollar scam that defied belief.

The Mastermind Behind the Scam

Jerome P. Jacobson, an ex-police officer turned security head for Simon Marketing, orchestrated a sophisticated scheme to rig McDonald’s Monopoly game. From the mid-90s, Jacobson manipulated the distribution of winning game pieces to people he knew, sharing in their illicit gains.
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Unraveling the McDonald’s Monopoly Fraud

Jacobson’s plot capitalized on his role at Simon Marketing, the firm responsible for creating McDonald’s game pieces. Ingeniously, he swapped winning pieces with regular ones in airport bathrooms, evading security protocols. The winning stickers were then distributed to a network of accomplices, leading to fraudulent claims of prizes.
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The Fall of a Fraudulent Empire

Despite Jacobson’s efforts to remain undetected, a pattern of winners clustered in Georgia and Florida raised red flags. An FBI investigation, tipped off by a suspicious win, unraveled the scheme. In August 2001, Jacobson and his co-conspirators were apprehended, marking the end of a decade-long fraud.

Reference: How the ‘McMillions’ scammers rigged McDonald’s Monopoly game and stole $24 million