Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Some McDonald's Customers Very Upset About Scam

Aired August 22, 2001 - 09:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The FBI is looking for more suspects in an alleged $13 million scam to rig games sponsored by McDonald's. Eight people have been arrested so far. Authorities say the scam was run by a contractor in charge of distributing winning game pieces for Monopoly and other games. He's accused of arranging for friends and associates to claim big prizes. The FBI said no McDonald's employees were involved.

The company issued a statement yesterday saying that "McDonald's was victimized by a long-time supplier in a sophisticated inside game of fraud and deception. Protecting our customers interest has been our goal since the investigation began. We're delighted with today's arrests," and that statement coming out yesterday.

Now even though McDonald's said that it was a victim, too, some of its customers are very upset about this.

And our Anne McDermott takes a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're all liars. McDonalds, you're all some liars! You'll messed up.

ANNE MCDERMOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): OK, some are taking this hard. These two Los Angeles sisters, for example. But how about this French tourist?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He thinks it's totally rotten.

MCDERMOTT: And some kids are crushed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They shouldn't be ripping off people, because we're only kids, yeah.

MCDERMOTT: And this air-conditioning repairman?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unbelievable. I mean, it's a big corporation. I don't understand.

MCDERMOTT: They do know McDonald's people aren't to blame, but they played the game. They dreamed of the diamonds they'd win, places they'd see and, in the case of this computer expert, it was all about the money. XUTCHELL ASUNCION, COMPUTER OPERATOR: The million dollars! But of course, never got it.

MCDERMOTT: Did you spend money trying to win?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I spent about $200 one summer and I didn't win anything. I bought like three Big Macs a day. I didn't win anything, so I just gave up on it.

MCDERMOTT: These 9th graders did too, but that's because they figured, even if it wasn't rigged, they weren't going to win.

MAGGIE BRIONES, 9TH GRADER: I stopped peeling off the little stamps a long time ago.

MCDERMOTT: And many here said they're going to keep buying Big Macs. Besides, the company's starting a new giveaway, and it'll be all on the up and up.

That's what's known as taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Anne McDermott, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www. fdch. com