"Tips for Jesus" is their name, leaving massive tips at restaurants is their game.
From a $1,500 tip at a restaurant in San Francisco to a $10,000 tip left at a bar in Indiana, a mysterious person -- or people -- have been extra generous. And it’s all being chronicled on Instagram under the username @tipsforjesus.
The account launched in September, and has more than 16,000 followers as of Tuesday -- which happens to be Giving Tuesday, a national initiative to encourage charity at the start of the holiday shopping season.
The few dozen photos that have been posted thus far capture snapshots of receipts, with signatures simply signed “@tipsforjesus," in reference to their Instagram account.
Recently, Tips for Jesus paid visits to LA restaurants The Hungry Cat and Fig and Olive, and left $1,000 tips on each meal. They also left $500 on a $24 bill at Jumbo’s Clown room in Hollywood in early October.
Tips for Jesus has generated so much attention that servers from Georgia to Canada are turning to the Instagram page, and asking @tipsforjesus to visit their restaurant.
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"Feel free to come to Canaletto Ristorante Veneto in Newport Beach, CA anytime! ;)" @brooklynn______ wrote.
Instagram user @tarsha29 asked Tips for Jesus "Can u please come across me in real life??"
The question is – who is behind Tips for Jesus, and why are they doing it?
It appears those behind Tips for Jesus wish to remain anonymous, but it can be inferred that they are well-off – given the generosity, and trips around the country.
There's a chance they're college football fans, too – given that the day they left two $5,000 tips at a Notre Dame bar, the receipt also read “Fight On!” – USC’s slogan. That same day was the USC-Notre Dame football game.
As for why? Well, their Instagram bio sums it up best: “Doing the Lord’s work, one tip at a time.”
And while some may think it’s too good to be true, Tips for Jesus insists that this is 100 percent real – even posting screen shots of their credit card statements, verifying that the charges are going through.
So, where will this traveling band of generous tippers strike next?
The last photo posted was of a receipt in the state of Washington.
NBCLA.com reached out to @tipsforjesus via Instagram, but has not heard back by the time of publication.
The Instagram images show that the @tipsforjesus spenders are using an American Express Centurion "Black" Card -- one that requires an annual spending minimum of $250,000. At this rate t's likely that they'll have no trouble meeting threshold.
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