Mystery do-gooder hiding cash in stores [solved]

[Hum]

A mystery donor has launched a scavenger hunt inside grocery stores in Oregon, leaving cash prizes for the lucky recipients.

A dozen shoppers at a Fred Meyer grocery store on Southeast Commercial Street in Salem have found $100 bills stuffed inside egg cartons, ice cream containers, and other random grocery items over the past few weeks. Walmart customers have also had similar experiences. And although no one knows who the mystery donor is, there is some speculation that an unidentified person who won $25,000 in the Oregon Lottery earlier this month may be paying it forward.

?We can confirm that there have been 12 different customers who have found $100 bills in our store. Upon finding the money, they?ve all alerted a store clerk and have been allowed to keep the money,? Melinda Merrill, the director of publicity at Kroger, the company that owns Fred Meyer, told Yahoo Shine. ?It?s a wonderful thing.?

Shopper Jennifer Smith-Poelz got lucky in the frozen aisle, finding her fortune inside an ice cream container. ?I just think this is the coolest thing ever,? she told Portland, Oregon, local news station KGW. ?Whoever is doing this has brightened so many people's days. I wish I had ample amounts of cash to be able to surprise people like this. I mean, it's fabulous.?

Phil (no last name was provided) told KGW that he experienced a double windfall, finding a $100 bill each inside two cookie boxes, while shopping at Walmart. ?I opened it up and a $100 bill fell out, just like that,? he said. Phil continued searching the shelves and hit the jackpot again: ?There were three boxes left, and l turned them over and lo and behold, there was another $100 bill.? The timing was impeccable. He is racking up huge gas bills driving to and from a hospital in Portland every day to visit his girlfriend, who is suffering from renal failure.

Anonymous donations do more than just benefit people on the receiving end. One study presented at the Annual Conference of the Royal Economic Society in April found that mystery gifts, which are given more frequently than public ones, induce a feel-good ripple effect, encouraging subsequent donors to make 4 percent larger contributions. But why would someone forgo the ego boost of making a public donation?

?These types of gifts are examples of altruism in its most authentic form,? Paul Hokemeyer, Ph.D., a Manhattan-based psychologist told Yahoo Shine. ?The givers tend to give with no expectations in return; they simply want to help. There?s also a self-protection factor at play. When people give publicly in large sums, friends, family, and colleagues may perceive them differently. It?s not uncommon for people who give in public to feel objectified by their generosity. The bottom line: Whether givers donate publicly or privately, their generosity is inspiring.? :happy:

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[Growled Member]

 

I opened it up and a $100 bill fell out, just like that,? he said.

 

That's all well and good but I sure wouldn't eat something that has already been opened.

[theyarecomingforyou]

That's all well and good but I sure wouldn't eat something that has already been opened.

Ditto. It's a nice gesture but money shouldn't be put into ice cream containers or anything similar, as it's incredibly unhygienic.

[Gerowen]

Ditto. It's a nice gesture but money shouldn't be put into ice cream containers or anything similar, as it's incredibly unhygienic.

Especially seeing as how paper money is actually pretty grody.  A lot of it has traces of cocaine, not to mention stripper pubic sweat, etc.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Especially seeing as how paper money is actually pretty grody.  A lot of it has traces of cocaine, not to mention stripper pubic sweat, etc.

And faecal matter.

[astropheed Veteran]

I don't know guys, I think a coke, sweat and pooh flavour could catch on. I'd call it swoohcaine. Make it expensive so dumb rich people think it's a delicacy; seriously, they'll eat anything. 

[Charisma Veteran]

With that hundred dollars you could buy another ice cream container. And still have plenty left over :laugh:

[PNWDweller]

I was just at my local Fred Meyer here in Southern Oregon (about 270 miles south of where this is going on).  Saw a sour cream container in the cooler with the lid lifted a bit exposing the protective plastic covering.  I walked by it thinking someone must have looked at it for some reason.   Now I wonder if maybe it is moving south....

[Pupik]

I think it's just publicity stunt by the shops, to lure more shoppers in to their store. Mystery can be easily solved with the help of the footage from the security cameras.

[szo]

I would probably sue him for food poisoning from the dirty notes! The lawsuit would give ten times more the money! /s  :shifty:

[Hum]

I think it's just publicity stunt by the shops, to lure more shoppers in to their store. Mystery can be easily solved with the help of the footage from the security cameras.

I don't think those run 24/7.

 

He probably bought the food, took it home or to his car to plant the money.

 

Took 2 seconds to put something back on the shelf.

 

And it is normal to open egg cartons to inspect the eggs.

 

You wouldn't see what they were doing to ice cream in a freezer.

[Growled Member]

I don't think those run 24/7.

 

He probably bought the food, took it home or to his car to plant the money.

 

Took 2 seconds to put something back on the shelf.

 

And it is normal to open egg cartons to inspect the eggs.

 

You wouldn't see what they were doing to ice cream in a freezer.

 

If it's that easy I wouldn't be surprised to see some nutjob put poisoned food back on the shelves.

[AJerman]

Leave it to Neowin to focus on the negative side of things! :laugh:

[Arachno 1D]

hey give me my money back :laugh:

[Hum]

Oregon Radio Station Behind Mystery Cash Prizes

The mystery surrounding  a series of $100 bills recently tucked into items at grocery stores in Oregon has been solved. Turns out, the good deeds were the work of a Portland radio station trying to drum up publicity and spread some good fortune.

Despite speculation that  the mystery donor was an unidentified local lottery winner, on Wednesday, The New 98.7 The Bull (KUPL) announced that it was responsible for mysterious windfalls occurring around Oregon and Southwest Washington ? although no one from the station would specify which stores were included in the treasure hunt. "We are everywhere and encouraging others to pay it forward and do the same," the station's music director "B-Dub" wrote in an email to Yahoo Shine.

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/cash-oregon-anonymous-walmart-180804062.html