Viral ‘she deserved the purse’ trend that sees strangers hiding cash surprise in baby products for struggling moms takes shocking turn

Nothing good can last forever, and a viral TikTok encouraging people to pay it forward to struggling moms has unfortunately proven that.

When Tennessee mother Danaesha Gonzalez saw a discarded bag with a tag still attached among children’s medicine and lotion in a store, she made a video of the famous scene and posted it to the video sharing platform, writing “she earned the wallet” on the poignant clip.

The clip spurred a TikTok trend called “she earned the wallet,” which encouraged social media users to hide money in baby items at the store for a mother to find while shopping and hopefully spend on herself.

“There were times when I didn’t have it, or there were times when I had to put certain things aside so my son could have it,” Gonzalez explained. NBC News. “And so I think it was just a moment where I was like, “Oh my God, this seems so familiar.”

The clip struck a chord with parents and highlighted the sacrifices many – especially mothers – have made for their children.

Although it initially captivated people and encouraged kindness, the trend was My greedy teenage years were taken advantage of, with users now reporting that packages have been opened and tampered with.

One video posted to TikTok captured the ugly side of the trend Chicago mother Valeria Diaz with rows of boxes and packages opened in the search for a few dollars.

“This is so sad and so wrong,” she captioned the video. ‘Mothers are not allowed to have anything.’

“She deserved the bag,” she wrote in the caption. “But no one deserves broken and tampered products over a trend.”

The mother told it Newsweek she had seen a group of teenagers, who appeared to be between 14 and 18 years old, strolling through the baby aisles of supermarkets.

“I told them it was completely inappropriate and that they were doing so much damage to things that babies need,” she said.

‘It’s sad to see children growing up so violent and aggressive. A parent would never tamper with products intended for children,” the passionate mother continued.

“They understand the value and importance of a child’s health and safety and how easily it can be affected by the purchase of a tampered product.”

While it initially captivated people and encouraged kindness, the trend was taken advantage of by greedy teens, with users now reporting packages have been opened and tampered with.

TikTok users chimed in, sharing their disappointment with the way the trend unfolded.

“This makes me so sad,” said another, showing shelves of boxers full of torn diapers.

Many initially agreed that the trend was heartwarming, but had since seen evidence of people taking advantage of the kindness of strangers.

“Ughhh I saw a video of teens taking the money about 3 tiktoks ago, I’m so sorry 🙁 this is so sick,” one user wrote.

“At first it was such a nice idea, but my thoughts were exactly this: it’s a shame,” another added.

“I think it’s better if you see a mom with a shopping cart so you can just have it with you before they check out,” one user suggested.