The McDonald's Monopoly scandal, also known as the McMillions scandal, was one of the biggest fraud cases in promotional history. It took place over a decade, from the late 1980s to 2001, and involved a complex network of people manipulating McDonald's popular Monopoly game to steal over $24 million in cash and prizes.
Here is a detailed breakdown of how the scheme worked, how it was uncovered, and its aftermath.
Background: The McDonald's Monopoly Game
McDonald's Monopoly game promotion was introduced in 1987, designed to mimic the classic board game Monopoly. Customers would collect game pieces attached to food items (such as cups, fries, and burgers). These pieces corresponded to properties from the Monopoly board, and completing property sets (like Park Place and Boardwalk) would win valuable prizes such as cash, cars, vacations, or even up to $1 million.
The game became wildly popular and was a major marketing tool for McDonald's, driving millions of customers to their restaurants during the promotional periods.
Simon Marketing and Jerome Jacobson
McDonald's hired a marketing company called Simon Marketing to handle the logistics of printing and distributing the Monopoly game pieces. Jerome Jacobson, the head of security at Simon Marketing, was tasked with ensuring that valuable game pieces (those corresponding to large prizes) were fairly distributed to McDonald's customers across the U.S. He had access to the winning game pieces, which were produced at a secure printing facility.
Jacobson's responsibility included physically delivering these winning pieces to McDonald's packaging factories, where they would be attached to food items and distributed randomly to stores. McDonald's trusted Simon Marketing and Jacobson to oversee the integrity of the promotion.
The Scam Begins
In the late 1980s, Jacobson discovered a flaw in the system. Instead of ensuring the winning pieces were randomly distributed, he realized he could steal them himself without raising suspicion.
Jacobson's role allowed him direct access to the high-value game pieces. His scheme began when he smuggled winning game pieces out of secure environments. Initially, he gave a winning $25,000 game piece to his step-brother to see if they could get away with it—and they did.
Once Jacobson realized how easy it was, he started expanding the operation. He began stealing rare winning pieces, such as those for the $1 million prize, and gave them to a network of accomplices. These accomplices were carefully chosen to avoid raising suspicion—many of them were distant associates, people he met randomly, or friends of friends.
How the Scheme Worked
Jacobson set up an intricate scheme with several layers of protection for himself:
Middlemen: Jacobson didn't redeem the pieces himself. Instead, he used "middlemen" to recruit others to claim the prizes. For example, he would pass pieces to his close friends, family members, and even strangers who were instructed to redeem the pieces.
