A viral TikTok posted last month says that the McDonald’s Monopoly prize game from the ‘90s was a scam that robbed participants of more than $24 million dollars.
The TikTok posted by Sean, aka Bit of Business (@bitofbusiness), has over 357,300 views. Sean is a TikToker with over 156,800 followers who makes storytelling videos about business and entrepreneurship—this time, he tells the story of a multi-million dollar heist involving McDonald’s Monopoly.
In case you’re unfamiliar, McDonald’s Monopoly is a giveaway game that took place in the United States during the 1990s, and has since been brought back globally. For the giveaway, shoppers at the popular chain-restaurant would peel off stickers from restaurant items to see if they won money or a menu prize.
In the viral TikTok, Sean explains a scheme that was spearheaded by Jerome Jacobson, a security employee tasked with transporting winning game pieces for the McDonald’s monopoly game.
Allegedly, Jacobson found out a way to steal the winning pieces and replace them with losing pieces. Jacobson would then sell the winning pieces to people he knew, including his son, a butcher, and a man he met at the airport.
“Yes McDonald’s Monopoly was a multi-million dollar scam masterminded by this guy,” Sean tells viewers in the video, “Do not pass go, do not collect $200.”
The story that Sean tells in the video turns out to be true. From 1989 to 2001, there were almost no legitimate cash winners of the competition in the United States because of Jacobson’s plot, according to Vulture.
After nearly a decade of pulling off the scam, Jacobson was eventually stopped by the FBI, who received a tip about one fraudulent winner and then noticed all of the prize winners were living near Jacobson’s home, according to CNBC.
The United States promotion was halted after the scandal. McDonald’s gave away nearly $10 million in cash prizes in an effort to make it up to customers, according to the Chicago Tribune.
McDonald’s still runs similar giveaway campaigns in the United States, like this NFL tailgating sweepstakes, and brought back the McDonald’s Monopoly giveaway in the United Kingdom in 2021.
Users in the comments section of the viral TikTok were upset about the scam.
“Such bs. I used to grind so hard for those,” one user commented.
“I want my parents’ money back,” another replied.
A few people, who said they used to be McDonald’s employees, reminisced on the experience.
“I worked at McDonald’s in 99-00. I sat in the back and peeled off hundreds these game pieces. No grand prize just free food,” one person said.
Despite never winning cash prizes, some people were happy to have just gotten a beverage or fries from the promotion.
“I wouldn’t call it a scam, i got a free mcflurry one time,” someone commented.
Several users pointed out that there is a documentary covering Jacobson’s story: “Such a good HBO documentary series! ‘McMillions’ is way worth the watch!”
McMillion$ is a six-part HBO documentary series released in 2020. According to its website, the series follows the business executives, lawyers, victims and prizewinners who were impacted by the scandal.
The Daily Dot reached out to McDonald’s, Hasbro, Sean, and HBO for comment via email.
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