Just The Gist of… the McDonald’s Monopoly Fraud episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 25, 2026 · 45 MIN

Just The Gist of… the McDonald’s Monopoly Fraud

from Just The Gist

For more than a decade, the entire McDonalds Monopoly game in the US was completely rigged. From 1989 to 2001, anybody who won a major prize in the competition had actually cheated, with help from someone on the inside. That someone was Jerome ‘Jerry’ Jacobson, Head of Security for the company in charge of making and distributing the McDonald’s Monopoly pieces. But when McDonalds found out that nobody was legitimately winning the major prizes, they still let the public spend their money trying to win in one last competition, because the FBI needed to go undercover to catch the Monopoly cheaters in a massive McSting. And when Jerry Jacobson finally revealed how he had pulled the whole thing off, it literally came down to one accidental fluke. This is Just The Gist of the McDonald’s Monopoly Fraud. We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's Breakin' Nooz, JTG After Show AND Bonus eps! You can access them by joining the Gistener Club via the Just The Gist Patreon or Apple Premium Subscriptions.Watch Just The Gist episodes on Youtube @JustTheGistPodcastFollow Just The Gist on Instagram and TikTok @JustTheGistPodcastFollow Rosie in all the places at @RosieWaterlandWant to give us a SuGISTion? Tell Rosie to stop singing so much? Email us at [email protected] Just The Gist is a Just The Network production. Executive Producer and Host: Rosie Waterland | Senior Producer and Editor: James Joseph | Producer: Kate Leaver | Additional production support: Hayley Staveley | Acast Legends: Guy Scott-Wilson and Simon McDermott | Production Assistant: PocketDon't forget to follow and give us 5 stars, which means something apparently!Thank you, as always, for Gistening. Now go say something impressive at a dinner party.......McMillion$ — Official Trailer (HBO)The Daily Beast "How An Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald's Monopoly Game and Stole Millions" by Jeff MayshThe Guardian "McMillion$: the bizarre story of how one man stole $24m from McDonald's"Vanity Fair "The True Crime Story Behind McMillion$"The New York Times "McMillion$ on HBO, Explained"CNBC "How the McMillions Scammers Rigged the McDonald's Monopoly Game and Stole $24 Million"NPR "How the Ex-Cop Who Scammed McDonald's Monopoly Got Caught"Adweek "McDonald's Revives Monopoly With a Wink at Its Scandalous Past"Wikipedia: McDonald's Monopoly (the promotion) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Just The Gist of… the McDonald’s Monopoly Fraud

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