McDonald’s may be one of the largest fast food chains in the world, but even it is not safe from fraud of various kinds, such as phishing, identity theft, and data breaches.
Whether you’re participating in McDonald’s Monopoly or just filling out a simple customer survey for cash. You should always be careful with your online activities and personal data to avoid being a victim of McDonald’s scams.
From its humble beginnings as a barbeque joint in the 1940s, McDonald’s has grown into a global fast food powerhouse with an extensive menu. McDonald’s is a go-to for millions of people all over the world, thanks to their beloved Big Mac, Chicken McNuggets, McCafé bakery, and drinks.
The National Center for Technology Innovation found that McDonald’s primary customers are families with young children. Teenagers and small business owners make up the restaurant’s second and third largest demographics of customers, respectively.
Scams That Affect McDonald’s And Its Clientele
McDonald’s Paid Survey
McDonald’s has warned customers to be wary of an email scam posing as a McDonald’s customer satisfaction survey. This email requests customers to participate in a brief customer survey from what appears to be the authentic McDonald’s brand in order to help the restaurant provide better food and service. The customer is promised payment if they finish the job.
But the only purpose of this is to trick people into giving up their financial and personal information in exchange for taking the survey. The email scammer requests credit card information from the recipient in order to transfer the bonus money for completing the survey. Unfortunately, the scammer can only deduct money from the account using this number.
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McDonald’s CEO Scam
A McDonald’s in Pennsylvania received a call from someone posing as the CEO, according to a Fox News article. This person persuaded one of the managers to withdraw $4,000 from the eatery and spend it on gift cards from a nearby convenience store at a gas station.
But instead of giving this person the PINs for the gift cards over the phone, the manager called the police. Scammers don’t frequently pose as the CEO of large corporations like McDonald’s, but they frequently ask their victims to buy gift cards to settle a debt.
McDonald’s Monopoly Promotion And Game
After a scam occurred in the early 2000s, customers began to doubt the honesty of McDonald’s Monopoly Game. An employee with McDonald’s sweepstakes administration company was corrupt enough to steal the most valuable game pieces and give them to people in his personal network rather than the winners. This worker stole $13 million in prize money from McDonald’s from the rightful winners.
Although Monopoly is a real board game, con artists have found ways to use it to trick unsuspecting players out of money. A common example is an annual con involving the sale of game pieces. Due to the safety risks involved, McDonald’s has instituted a policy prohibiting this.
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Subverting McDonald’s Scams
Here is a quick checklist that can help you avoid falling victim to McDonald’s impersonators. You can use these to spot and steer clear of bogus emails, sweepstakes, and prizes of all kinds.
- If you receive an unsolicited email, it is imperative that you double-check the sender’s address.
- Be sure that the content of your emails is free of typos, grammatical errors, and inappropriate language.
- Remain suspicious of any links or attachments in an email and refrain from clicking.
- Make sure your anti-malware and firewall software is up-to-date and running.
- Never pay any sort of fee to receive a prize, including taxes, shipping, handling, or processing.
- Don’t waste your time with competitions that require payment to increase your chances of winning.
- Avoid giving out sensitive financial information to enter contests.
To simplify mobile ordering and payments outside the U.S. and protect against new scams targeting restaurant-delivery services, McDonald’s reportedly teamed up with leading fraud prevention company Sift.
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