A mystery man has been tipping restaurant staff up to $10,000 and documenting his generosity on Instagram.

The tips, charged to an American Express credit card, have been left across the US, with only an illegible signature and the handle @tipsforjesus stamped on the bill left as an identifier.

The Instagram feed, which now has over 55,000 followers, comes with the tagline, “doing the Lord's work, one tip at a time,” and features images of the stamped bills and happy staff.

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In Fairfield, Connecticut he left a $5,000 gratuity on a $112 bill at the Seagrape, and in Los Angeles a $1,000 tip went to a waiter at the Hungry Cat.

In New York in the first week of December, a waiter in the restaurant of the NoMad Hotel got a $7,000 tip, another at The Smith restaurant was left $3,500, while $1,000 went to Aruj Dhawan, 25, at Bo's Kitchen & Bar Room.

“Aruj approached me, handed me the receipt and said, 'Is this for real?”' said general manager Benjamin Cramer.

Mr Dhawan had served three guests who walked in one recent Saturday evening. Their order - a whiskey, a beer, an appetizer, a pork ragout and a pork chop - came to $111.05, plus the $1,000 for the waiter.

Before leaving, the tipster had snapped a photo of the waiter with the check and posted it on Instagram.

Mr Dhawan later confirmed to the New York Post that one of the men was former PayPal vice-president Jack Selby, who had previously been rumoured to be behind the generous giving.

An original member of the PayPal team, Mr Selby made millions when the company was sold to eBay.