Anonymous Man Hides Envelopes of Cash Around SF, Finders Pay it Forward

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An anonymous man has been hiding envelopes of cash in San Francisco asking those who find them to pay it forward -- they're doing just that.

Image: Flickr, Tony Fischer

By Kurt Wagner2014-05-28 02:23:50 UTC

Mo' money, mo' problems doesn't seem to apply to San Francisco — at least not when it comes to the anonymous man leaving envelopes of cash around the city.

Last week, someone operating the Twitter handle @HiddenCash started sharing clues and images of places around SF where he had hidden envelopes stuffed with cash. There hasn't been much of an explanation behind the scavenger hunt; the anonymous cash man wants only one thing: for those who find the envelopes to pay it forward.

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“I’m in that 1% that some people loathe, but rather than hating people who are successful, my point would be to encourage people who have been successful to give back a little bit more," the anonymous gifter, who claims to be a successful real-estate mogul, told ABC News .

Well, it appears as if San Franciscans are taking his direction to heart.

It's still unclear who is behind the @HiddenCash experiment. The result it's had on the city, however, has been clear: People are nuts about free cash. The @HiddenCash account has more than 100,000 followers, and some of those finding the cash are beginning to use the hashtag #PayItForward along with their tweets.

Alexzandra Etherton, an author based in SF, found her envelope outside the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals building near City Hall. Etherton plans to use some of the money to buy her own books to donate in SF, and she gave the rest to those working at a nearby coffee shop where she first read the clue.

Samantha Kane, a freelance conference and event planner, heard about the scavenger hunt when her stepfather sent her an article about it. When she stumbled upon an envelope in SF's Dolores Park on Sunday, Kane took her stepfather out for dinner with the $100 she found.

Leo Sunga, a lifelong SF resident, found $100 after following a Twitter clue early Sunday morning while getting ready for church. He donated all the money to St. Anne's, a Catholic church in San Francisco's Inner Sunset neighborhood immediately afterward. Later that day, Sunga said he found another envelope, but decided to leave it for a different hunter to find.

"I felt like I'd been blessed enough that day," he told Mashable.

While the scavenger hunt appears to be encouraging a mad dash toward envelopes all over the city (multiple cash finders admitted to running after envelopes), it doesn't appear to be driving greed. Matt Burkert, a civil engineer based in SF, has eagerly searched for envelopes shoulder-to-shoulder with other residents on multiple occasions.

In those instances, Burkert said those who missed out on the envelope weren't bitter, but instead celebrated those who did find it.

"There's definitely a lot of camaraderie," said Burkert, who did claim one $100 envelope on Sunday. "I think people know it's not about the money; it's more about the adventure...It's all about paying it forward."

Burkert hasn't decided where he will spend his money yet, but he knows it won't be on himself. He considered paying for lunch at his office, but wants to get more creative instead.

"I'm kind of waiting for a little more inspiration," he said. "I don't want to just pay the money forward; I want to pay the fun and adventure that we had searching for it forward."

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Topics: hidden cash, @hiddencash, pay it forward, San Francisco-San Jose, Social Good, U.S., US & World