There was something incredibly fun about the McDonald’s Monopoly Game. Even though most of the prizes turned out to be free small fries and dessert, just imagining winning that big million dollar prize was crazy exciting. But the odds of winning were slim. Not just because it was a huge contest — but because someone was rigging it for well over a decade.
The McDonald’s Monopoly game got started in 1987. Much like the game itself, players had to collect properties for their game board. Full matches would lead to an array of different prizes. Odds of winning prizes like cars were extremely rare. Often with properties, two of the pieces were commonly found stuck to McDonald’s fries and sodas during the promo, but the third — which would guarantee a win — wasn’t printed quite as much, and was often found in other geographic locations. As with everything, winning was possible. Just unlikely.
Still, a lot of winners popped up due to one man, known by the name of “Uncle Jerry.” According to an in-depth article from The Daily Beast, he was an insider who stole winning game pieces and passed them off to friends and family members for a cut of the prize. In the beginning, it was a bit suspicious for people to keep winning from the same city. The odds of that happening naturally just weren’t probable.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=714el88TPgY"]Special Agent Richard Dent started his investigation of Uncle Jerry back in 2000, after being tipped off. Dent learned that McDonald’s worked with a company called Simon Marketing, which trusted an employee who worked in security named Jerry Jacobson with the game pieces. Suddenly, things were starting to add up.
After Jacobson’s phone was wiretapped, Dent realized that the scam was so much bigger than he initially imagined. It wasn’t just Jacobson messing with the game pieces — it was actually a whole network with mobsters and convicts. Since Jacobson had been messing with the system for so long, the con increased to epic proportions.
Jacobson was an ex-cop who got into security due to his now-ex-wife. To his coworkers, he was diligent about making sure nobody ran off with pieces. Nobody suspected he was rigging the entire system.
He knew which factories the winning pieces were supposed to end up at, and was in charge of specifically delivering them himself. While he was being followed by an auditor during that time, he found ways around it.
In 1989, he slipped a family member named Marvin Braun a game piece worth $25,000 — simply because he could. He even went so far as to remove winning game pieces from certain product containers and stealthfully replaced them with commons, without anyone realizing. While he was cheating, he didn’t always use this power for bad. In fact, one time he sent over a million dollar Instant Win piece to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
In 1995, things changed once again. Jacobson met Gennaro Colombo, a 32-year-old who operated adult nightclubs, while at the airport. The two formed an interest in each other, and Jacobson felt good enough slipping Colombo a winning piece for a Dodge Viper. Oddly enough, Colombo appeared on a commercial celebrating this win.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viU25SQFKO8"]But Colombo didn’t take the car — he took the money offer instead, as per his wife Robin. Colombo was involved in the mafia and lived the lifestyle. He used some of the McDonald’s money to fund a private club located in Hilton Head, along with other ventures. Pretty soon, his friends all won big thanks to Jacobson and his stolen pieces.
Based on issues with location, the con went even further. Fake addresses were often used, with fake answering machines to make it seem like the winners actually lived in other states.
After Colombo passed away in an automobile accident, Jacobson didn’t stop. Instead, he looked for someone else to fill his old partner’s shoes. Colombo’s family became suspicious that his wife Robin had something to do with his passing. Robin, who was was admittingly getting tired of the mafia life, denied all allegations.
Still, the FBI was “mysteriously” tipped off to a 1996 winner who happened to be Robin’s father. After the winners were more closely examined, and Dent starting doing a follow-up, he realized that many of them had call-forwarding services on. That, of course, raised even more suspicion that the game was rigged.
The last game for Jacobson took place in 2001, and by then, both Dent and McDonald’s knew the gameplay wasn’t right. Eventually, Jacobson was caught. McDonald’s tried to sue Simon Marketing, who reportedly counter-sued. Jacobson was only sentenced for 3 years in federal prison, and was said to be released in 2005. According to The Daily Beast, Jacobson is “in poor health, but living a quiet life in Georgia.” Does he regret what he did? We think not.
It’s a discouraging story for anyone who ever aimed to win a big prize at McDonald’s, but it’s also fascinating to realize how so much of this operation ran on greed. So, consider yourself lucky if all you won back in the day was an apple pie.
No need to play McDonald’s Monopoly to get good deals! You can download the McDonald’s app, and they’ll message you deals of the day or week (including how to get free French fries).
