Arizona DoorDash Driver Goes To McDonald’s. Then He Sees A Monopoly Box By The Dumpsters. Was It An Employee’s Stash?

In the midst of McDonald’s Monopoly promotion, a DoorDash driver in Arizona stumbled upon what appeared to be a jackpot near a McDonald’s dumpster.

While this could be good news for him, translating to free food and potential cash prizes, the internet seems to think he just screwed over an employee that probably set the box out for themselves.

The real question is, can either of them get in trouble over this?

DoorDash Driver Takes Box Of McDonald’s Monopoly Stickers

A DoorDash driver who goes by @usernamewetnoodles shared his unexpected discovery while picking up orders. His video has more than 2.1 million views.

“So I was out DoorDashing and, seeing this cart kinda by the trashcan, and I saw what the outside said,” he says.

In the video you can see a big cardboard box barely taped shut and labeled “2025 Monopoly.”

“I was like, ‘No way. No way,'” he continues, moving closer to examine the find.

Inside the box is stuffed with fry containers with Monopoly stickers on the back.

The driver appears excited about the discovery and announces plans to open them publicly.

“Come with me on Live later. And we’ll peel some of these and see what happens—see what we get,” he says.

The discovery raises questions about how the box ended up by the dumpsters.

What Is McDonald’s Monopoly, And How Does it Work?

The McDonald’s Monopoly game returned in October 2025 after a decade-long hiatus. It offered prizes ranging from free food to a $1 million cash prize.

According to USA Today, the promotion was set to end on Nov. 2, so the DoorDasher’s discovery might have come too late in the game.

The game works by distributing game pieces with select menu items. Customers can receive physical game pieces on packaging (like french fries) or digital game pieces through the McDonald’s app. Physical pieces include a QR code that must be scanned with the app to reveal if it’s a winner.

This year’s prizes include 1 million American Airlines AAdvantage Miles, a trip for four to Universal Orlando Resort, a new 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the $1 million grand prize.

So what was a box full of unpeeled Monopoly stickers doing by a McDonald’s dumpster? The video doesn’t provide answers, but it raises several possibilities: the pieces could have been expired promotional materials being discarded, leftover stock from the promotion’s end, or—as some commenters speculated—an employee’s personal stash.

The Infamous McDonald’s Monopoly Fraud

The discovery of a box full of game pieces inevitably brings to mind one of the most notorious fraud schemes in promotional history—a scam that tainted McDonald’s Monopoly game.

Between 1995 and 2001, Jerome P. Jacobson, the director of security for Simon Marketing (the company that made McDonald’s game pieces), orchestrated a scheme that stole more than $24 million in cash and prizes, according to CNBC.

Jacobson’s job was to prevent employees from stealing game pieces. Instead, he became the mastermind behind ensuring almost no legitimate winners existed for years.

The scheme worked like this: Jacobson would sneak into airport bathroom stalls—the one place his female auditor couldn’t follow—and swap winning game pieces with regular stickers before resealing the packages with tamper-proof seals he’d obtained. He then sold the winning pieces to friends, family, and associates for upfront cash payments of $45,000 to $50,000 each, even for pieces worth up to $1 million.

At one point, Jacobson anonymously mailed a $1 million game piece to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which made national news. A source later told CNN he hoped the good deed would secure a more lenient sentence if caught.

The FBI received a tip in March 2000 about suspicious winner clusters in Georgia and Florida. When McDonald’s launched another promotional game in 2001, the FBI was ready with wiretaps. Jacobson and seven accomplices were arrested in August 2001.

“This fraud scheme denied McDonald’s customers a fair and equal chance of winning,” then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said at the time.

More than 50 people were eventually convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy. Jacobson, then 58, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $12.5 million in restitution. He reportedly stole up to 60 winning game pieces over the years.

The scandal caused a public backlash once customers realized the games had produced hardly any legitimate winners for nearly a decade.

McDonald’s announced a special $10 million instant cash giveaway to make amends and immediately cut ties with Simon Marketing, which closed in 2002.

Commenters React

“First mistake, this video,” a top comment read.

“100% believe an employee left that there for after their shift,” a person specualted.

“You’re about to have so many free apple pies,” another wrote.

“That’s why these stores are running out of games pieces. Employees and setting them outside to take them later,” a commenter added.

BroBible reached out to @usernamewetnoodles for comment via TikTok direct message and comemnt to McDonald’s via email.