Asking on behalf of friend

Last time he went mall with his family.

Then a random stranger come and give toy to the kid.

The toy looks worn out, like a soft toy.

The kid of course accept happily, but he was suspicious (and he should be) . Although its hard to get it off from his kid (due to new toy attachment), end up he throw away at the mall.

Just wondering if this is a common occurence / scam/ criminal?

Maybe got camera or gps tracker inside

maybe ask why did the person give the soft toy...

some people may wanna clear their place, and feel wasted to dump the toy, so give away to people around them.

kidnap

You should not feel suspicious. You should feel it was wrong straight away.

Maybe got drugs inside?

Haunted object?

TS mentioned the stranger gave directly to the kid. This is wrong despite the person good intention if really they just want to donate the toy outt.
The right approach in this situation would have been for the stranger to ask the parents if they were comfortable with the gift being given to the child.
It’s a simple step that respects the parents' authority and avoid misunderstanding.

i agree. i would of course ask the parents first and not just give it to the kid... just strange

Weird