Munich — it is the temptation of a big win: a machine in one of Munich’s shopping centers offers supposedly unopened parcels—returns of goods that were not delivered during online purchases or were lost. The terms of the deal: the buyer pays a price for the package depending on size and weight and receives a return, inside of which much more valuable content may be located. But is this actually the case?
Mysterious machines in Munich: scam of the year
The trend of mysterious machines (Mystery-Automaten) has completely swept Munich. They stand in many places and lure with promises of unprecedented finds. It is simultaneously a treasure hunt and a game of chance. In Munich, they are also present; for example, the project mit Vergnügen München advertised such a machine: Good luck with the choice, perhaps a real treasure is hidden in the machine.
However, the machines are also subject to criticism. The essence of the claims boils down to the fact that people have no real chance of a valuable find in the parcels. Reactions to a post by a Reddit user, who inquired about the experience of using such machines—for example, the one currently standing in the Schwanthalerhöhe shopping center—were maintained in the same vein. The response that gained the most likes read: You can be sure that the contents of the parcels were scanned to ensure the absence of dangerous items. So, if there were something valuable there, the machine operators would have already taken it for themselves.
Even more sharply spoke another user under this post, calling what is happening simply the scam of the year. But is the criticism justified? On the web, one can find assurances from numerous operators who insist that they do not know the contents of the boxes.
Gilding the trash: the scathing opinion of a discount goods trader
In October 2025, the ZDF television channel took up the study of mysterious machines to find out how honest the deal with returns is. The article cites the opinion of a wholesaler who directly answered a question from ZDFheute about whether parcels are actually resold unopened: This is impossible for legal reasons alone. There could be dangerous objects in there after all.
A giant industry now stands behind the trade of returns. According to ZDFheute, there even exist returns that are not such at all: fake labels are simply pasted on them and sold to machine operators, who then resell them further. Thus, it is not even necessarily about whether operators open the parcels and sift out the most valuable content. A devastating verdict was also delivered by a trader of leftover goods quoted by ZDF: For the trade, this is an opportunity to get rid of trash and at the same time still gild it.
A unified opinion of the states has not yet been formed — comment from the Ministry of the Interior
However, are such machines not a game of chance, to which children also have unlimited access? Our editorial office sent an inquiry to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior—the highest body for the supervision of gambling in this federal state. The highest supervisory authorities of the states are aware of the relatively new phenomenon called Mystery-Automaten. A unified opinion of the states regarding the possible belonging of these machines to gambling has not yet been formed, the response stated.
Furthermore, a representative of the ministry explained: According to the definition of the State Treaty on Gambling 2021, a game of chance takes place if, within the framework of the game, a fee is required for the acquisition of a chance to win, and the decision on the win completely or predominantly depends on chance. The signs of remuneration and dependence on chance are likely present when purchasing mystery boxes. But the sign of a chance to win is not so obvious, as, unlike a classic game of chance where a total loss of the stake is possible, customers of such machines always receive at least something. At the same time, it does not matter if the customer can use the contents. However, if the objective value of the content is lower than the price paid for the box, the customer suffers a property loss. In this case, this indicates signs of a game of chance at a specific machine, the ministry noted.
On the question of the protection of children and youth, the ministry replied that this depends on the classification of the activity as a game of chance—for now, it is (not yet) established, and there is no need for action. Interesting is the answer to the question of how the absence of illegal items in the boxes is ensured: Illegal turnover of weapons or narcotic drugs is prohibited in general, regardless of whether they can be the content of the boxes, and upon identification of such facts, is prosecuted in a criminal procedure. Thus, one can quite assume that one of the links in the chain—be it the sellers of the boxes or the machine operators—checks for the absence of illegal items in the parcels before they reach the customer.Source: Reddit, press release of the Ministry of the Interior, Sports and Integration of Bavaria, ZDFheute
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