Hide your wallets: Hidden Cash copycats pop up in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio copycat of the Hidden Cash scavenger hunt craze is asking people to donate money to be hidden around the Alamo City.

The authentic “Hidden Cash” project began in San Francisco on May 23 and quickly spread on social media. An unknown Twitter user behind the account @HiddenCash has been placing money, usually $60-$200, in random spots around the California city and tweeting out clues to the locations. The user has said he has accumulated wealth through real estate and wants to give back in a fun way.

The user behind the original, San Francisco-based @HiddenCash account warned of copycats in an email and confirmed the @HiddenCashTexas copycat is not affiliated with him. However, he confirmed that “we will come to Texas at some point.”

The user behind the imitator @HiddenCashTexas account, which claims it will begin hiding cash in San Antonio on Thursday and has been reported on as legitimate by local media outlets such as KENS5, is asking people to donate money through the crowdsourcing website GoFundMe that was started May 31. As of Tuesday afternoon, he has received no donations and has a goal of $1,000.

The user behind @HiddenCashTexas, which has more than 4,000 followers, did not respond to questions about what money he would be hiding around San Antonio or why he hasn't received donations. But the user did say through email: “I saw what he was doing for people in CA and thought that I would try to do the same here. I'm not leading people on for the heck of it. I'm doing it. Exactly what he does. Not as much money because I'm obviously not a millionaire.”

Since Hidden Cash began May 23 in San Francisco, people have been copying the original idea in cities around the world.

On Monday, the authentic @HiddenCash account tweeted: “If you are going to copy our idea, great, as long as you do it responsibly and for the right reasons.”

“There really is no agenda here - not political, not business, not religious - other than bringing people together in a positive way and bringing a smile to people's faces,” the user behind the original @HiddenCash account wrote in a blog post.

The user behind the Texas copycat account explains in his Twitter bio that he is a “normal person who works 60 hours a week.” On Tuesday, he tweeted, “Look y'all, I'm not claiming to be @HiddenCash. Never have. All I'm doing is spreading the joy that he started in CA. Nothing but love.”

The account said that the first time and location would be on the Northwest Side on Thursday.

Check back with mySA.com for updates on this developing story.

Houston Chronicle staff writer Craig Hlavaty contributed to this report.

kparker@express-news.net

Twitter: @KoltenParker

jcook@mySA.com

Twitter: @JosephCook89