While not all claws are rigged, especially ones with cheap prizes in them, the ones with stuff like iPhones and $100 gift cards are automatically rigged. The plastic container is physically impossible to get a grip on with a low-force claw with smooth edges; if it were a rectangular box with nothing sticking out, it would be physically impossible to get it via claw machine.
That's categorically wrong, as people win things at carnivals all the time.