Is McDonald’s Monopoly a Scam?

Today is the last day of McDonald’s Monopoly UK. The Monopoly game, which is looked forward to by many each year, has lead a number of people to great prices and even cash money. Not everyone wins though so you may have wondered to yourself, “is McDonald’s Monopoly a scam?”

Is McDonald’s Monopoly a Scam?

If you’ve played McDonald’s Monopoly and not won, you aren’t the only one. In fact, so many people have gone without winning in McDonald’s Monopoly that they wonder whether or not the game is a scam. The answer is no. McDonald’s Monopoly isn’t a scam but you can be scammed while playing the game.

How to Play McDonald’s Monopoly

McDonald’s Monopoly is a legitimate sweepstakes game that rolls around once a year. It is a great chance for McDonald’s to promote sales while rewarding customers with prizes. Similar to Albertsons Monopoly, over the span of about a month and a half (how long the game usually lasts) people collect McDonald’s Monopoly game pieces. You either get an immediate prize (usually free food) or you collect game pieces to earn a bigger prize. A select few uncover rare game pieces.

Rare game pieces can be collected in order to win the larger prizes offered through McDonald’s Monopoly. The only problem is that you’re more likely to get struck by lightning than to find all the rare pieces you need in order to land the grand prize.

How to Better your McDonald’s Monopoly Odds

Don’t worry though. There are a few ways you can better your odds when playing McDonald’s Monopoly. One of these ways is to exchange game pieces with other players or split the prize. There are many forums and message boards on the internet where people can do this safely, however, this is where many McDonald’s Monopoly players get scammed. Here are a few tell-tale signs that someone is attempting to scam you out of your McDonald’s Monopoly pieces or your cash:

• They offer you half the prize for your Monopoly game piece.
  • This is usually the first red flag. If someone is offering you half the grand prize (usually $1 million or more) for a game piece they are likely trying to scam you.
  • Additionally, if someone offers you the entire prize in exchange for a much smaller amount of money, beware. Normally they will say that they have had a divorce or trouble with the IRS so they don’t want to claim all of the winnings. They will ask you to send them $5,000 to $10,000 in exchange for the game piece that will win you much more cash than that. However, you’ll never receive your game piece and will have lost thousands of dollars.
• They ask for unnecessary information.
  • If anyone (not just with McDonald’s Monopoly) asks for personal information over the internet or telephone, do not give it up. Things like your social security number, bank account information or any financial information is absolutely unnecessary for exchanging McDonald’s Monopoly pieces.

If you’ve fallen on hard times it is easy to fall for a scam, especially when there is a lot of money at stake. While McDonald’s Monopoly is a legitimate sweepstakes game, you will have to look out for McDonald’s Monopoly scams within the player community.

Did you like this article? You may also enjoy reading about Albertsons Monopoly.

Photo: Man Reviews Food