
‘McMillions’: ex-cop orchestrated $24M McDonald’s Monopoly scam - hhs
https://nypost.com/2020/02/01/mcmillions-how-ex-cop-orchestrated-24-million-mcdonalds-monopoly-scam/
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grawprog
I read this story not too long ago. It's a pretty amazing story, honestly like
something from a movie. Though, it did make me think back to being a kid at
that time being hopeful we might win. Get that boardwalk and park place. Now I
know it was never possible to win in Canada at that time it does kind of bring
this feeling of being cheated. My dad always said conspiratorially that the
game was a scam and you could never win. It's funny to think he was right,
though not for the reasons he thought.

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stevebmark
It's a great story so reposts aren't that frustrating, but the Daily Beast
reporting in 2018 is better researched and wildly entertaining:
[https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-an-ex-cop-rigged-
mcdonalds...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-an-ex-cop-rigged-mcdonalds-
monopoly-game-and-stole-millions)

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heedlessly3
I don't believe Jacobson's connection to Columbo was a complete random
happening at an airport.

More realistically, at least one of Jacobson's friends or family couldn't keep
their mouth shut that Jacbson worked for the promotion. An associate of theirs
was connected to Columbo and decided to extort Jacobson.

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unishark
"Taking the stand in a Jacksonville, Fla., courthouse, he admitted: “All I can
tell you is I made the biggest mistake of my life.”

More like "the biggest protracted series of mistakes". Or perhaps "the most
mistakey criminal enterprise I have ever devoted 12 years of my life to".

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pbhjpbhj
McDo: Here we're putting you in charge of placing the $1Million prize pieces.

Employee: Okey-dokes.

McDo: [Thinks] Hey that employee is getting really rich, must be completely
unrelated. Lets not bother to check up on them.

???

Was someone higher up in on the deal?

~~~
TwoBit
I'm surprised at the lack of checks and balances in place. That one person had
unchecked control of the game.

~~~
abtinf
Along these lines... I once saw a movie in which, during a small town
election, a character commented “You know who decides elections? The ballot
counter.”

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closeparen
Contested elections have ballots counted in the presence of witnesses from
each side.

~~~
distances
All vote counting is made with the presence of people from multiple parties.
Everywhere I've voted in, at least.

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pcwalton
Wikipedia article:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_Monopoly#Fraud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_Monopoly#Fraud)

The reason why this incident isn't more widely known is that the trial
commenced on September 10, 2001. Needless to say, coverage of it was quickly
eclipsed by more serious events.

~~~
heymijo
I wonder what other happenings in the U.S. were eclipsed by 9/11.

~~~
dpiers
Donnie Darko’s release in October 2001 was very quiet after they pulled all
advertising because a plane crash plays a prominent role in the plot.

~~~
catalogia
The ending of the MGS2 video game (released in November of 2001) was
butchered, since it involved a massive submarine crashing into New York City
and Konami feared the game could be seen as a criticism of America. In the
cutscenes that survived the butchering, you can see vestigial remnants of the
original; most notably flagpoles without American flags on them. The ending of
the game has the "villain" explain his desire to free America from the AI that
personified of the military industrial complex. When he died, an American flag
was meant to symbolically fall on his body.

~~~
PostOnce
Is that a regional change or a global change? Did the Japanese release retain
the original ending?

~~~
catalogia
Unfortunately it was a global change. MGS2 released in the US first, Japan a
few weeks later. I'm not sure if that played a roll in any way.

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WheelsAtLarge
It's interesting how quickly people are tempted by money. I worked for a store
that decided that they needed to reduce staff so they got rid of the
supervisors that supervised the cashiers when they cashed out. They figured
the cashiers had been there for so many years so they were trustworthy. Almost
immediately the cashiers started to cheat by skimming a bit of cash and within
a few months, most of them were replaced because they had been caught cheating
in some way.

The temptation is too great for many people. Checks and balances always need
to be put in place no matter how trustworthy the person is.

This case is a prime example of that.

~~~
techntoke
> Almost immediately the cashiers started to cheat by skimming a bit of cash
> and within a few months, most of them were replaced because they had been
> caught cheating in some way.

Who caught them and how if they stopped counting the drawers?

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djannzjkzxn
A security camera on the register seems like the easiest way. If the cashier’s
count doesn’t match the sum of customer transaction then watch the footage
until you see them pocket the money.

~~~
setheron
Thus proving you don't need the manager oversight ?

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djannzjkzxn
Monitoring with cameras seems like an advance in technology that lowers the
need for managers in the room. But it’s still a check as advocated earlier in
the thread.

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tedunangst
Some previous articles:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17638677](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17638677)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10643160](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10643160)

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JeanMarcS
Were there bad publicity for Mc Donald after that in the US ?

After all, they made 40% raise in sales for a prize that was not possible.

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xenadu02
As I recall they ran a new promotion after this all came out with even bigger
prizes (and more of them) as an apology.

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onetimemanytime
So he sold $1 Million tickets to the mob for $50K and the mobster got half of
the prize from people. And those people got (stuck with paying taxes on the
hole $1 Million.)

He got too little but then it was just a "day's work" and after a while you
cannot launder them yourself.

~~~
steve19
If the prize "winners" came ahead with a dollar more than taxes they came out
ahead.

He was smart, he took a decent amount of money but didn't risk his banker
questioning where millions of dollars in his bank account came from.

~~~
onetimemanytime
Not if they spent the money before paying the taxes. You know how it goes when
you get a bunch of money all of the sudden

~~~
backupcavalry
Hell, you'll be relatively lucky if taxes are all that gets you:
[https://abcnews.go.com/US/lottery-jackpot-winners-lost-
big/s...](https://abcnews.go.com/US/lottery-jackpot-winners-lost-
big/story?id=36313525)

As pleasurable as it is to imagine myself winning huge sums of cash it's also
almost a sort of fire drill for in case it ever actually happens.

