It’s virtually impossible to make a quick buck nowadays.
Unless, of course, you’re a New Jerseyan, like Cassi Fitzgerald and her husband, James, who can sniff out strategically stashed cash like bloodhounds.
“We found $500,” Cassi, a 20-something from Jersey City, told The Post of their gold strike — a payday, scored in late May, after a 60-minute, 10-person paper chase along the two-mile promenade that overlooks the Hudson River at Liberty State Park.
The couple’s windfall, however, can’t simply be attributed to sheer dumb luck.
Instead, all credit is due to a mystery man named Sam — better known as “Mr. Cash Drop” to his 125,000 social media fans.
“I just go around, hide [varying sums of] cash at different locations, post a video teasing where the money is, then wait for my followers to show up and find it,” Sam, 42, a newcomer to the Garden State, told The Post. He’s even used capital from his own coffers for his triweekly calls to action.
“People are so excited to win,” he said of those who’ve been lucky enough to locate the loot, sometimes up to $500. “They’re like, ‘Oh man, you don’t know how much this really helps out.’”
The millennial isn’t some eccentric millionaire who gets his jollies from watching the have-nots search high and low for dough.
He’s simply a warehouse logistics manager who duct-tapes banknotes to beach railings by the Jersey Shore, hides them under rocks in suburbia or sticks them between the well-manicured bushes that line the walkways of northern New Jersey hot spots.
Sam said his cash drops are all in good funds. He and his New Jersey native girlfriend, Trina, started their humanitarian hobby in late March, flying up and down the turnpike, arbitrarily selecting cities, townships and neighborhoods for their finders-keepers merriment.
“I just do this for fun because it is fun to watch these people come out and find money,” said the benefactor, who prefers staying out of the spotlight, for fear crooks might mistake him for some sort of plain-clothes millionaire.
Sam, the good Samaritan
Sam is among the growing army of do-gooders responsible for the buzzy “cash scavenger hunt” trend.
It’s a viral movement that sees altruists — from New York City to San Diego and everywhere in between — tucking away moolah near local landmarks for eagle-eyed residents to retrieve.
Parlaying Instagram and TikTok into money-race starting points, the semi-anonymous game masters give their digital disciples video clues as to where they’ve placed the currency. What’s up for grabs can range from $50 to more than $500.
And within minutes, virtual viewers in the vicinity spill into the streets, seeking that sweet green.
The mysterious masterminds behind the Instagram account @FindCashNY, which recently awarded $500 to one of its 120,000 followers in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for a comment.
But, like Sam, they’re part of the rising craze that’s lining the pockets of everyday folks struggling to make ends meet amid the ongoing inflation crisis, high cost of living headache and tariff catastrophes.
Subscribers to his verified Instagram page for $4.99 per month, as did Cassi and James, are granted exclusive access to his $500 drops.
But for most of his high-stakes hunts, Sam solicits sponsorships from New Jersey businesses, such as pet shops and pizzerias, whose owners put up the big bucks in exchange for shout-outs on his profiles.
Just for fun
However, the working-class philanthropist Sam doesn’t profit from the stunt — and did dip into his own pockets for the treasure race Cassi and James won last month.
“Once I saw that the cash drop was local, we jumped in the car with our 7-month-old baby and went straight to Liberty State Park,” said Cassi, a logistics specialist.
After duking it out with their fellow competitors, James, a private baseball and softball hitting instructor, finally found the $500 taped to the bottom rail of the fence by the river. The breadwinner posed for a pic with the prize, as well as a golden ticket Sam had handmade for the event, with the Statue of Liberty as his backdrop.
“I was ready to scream and shout, ‘We got it!’” Cassi laughed. “But my husband wanted to keep a low profile.”
The new parents are saving their spoils in a rainy day fund for the baby.
“It’s really cool that there are good people in the world, like Sam, who are doing kind acts like this,” said Cassi.
And the selfless saint of New Jersey said he’s more than happy to keep up the good work.
“I plan to do it until the fun runs out.”
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