A couple days ago I found a wallet on the road as I was driving. Where it was, I'm pretty confident it would have gone down the drain or almost definitely lost if I didn't pick it up.
Inside was a bunch of $100/$50 bills totalling over $900. Unfortunately most of the cards were banged up because it was run over a couple of times.
Very rare these days to see that much cash.
I'm in the process of getting it back to its owner, who is approx 65 yrs old.
Genuinely interested, what would you do?
What would you do if you found a wallet with $900 in it?
Bludgeman on 15/06/2021 - 22:57
Last edited 15/06/2021 - 22:59
Last edited 15/06/2021 - 22:59
Poll Options
- 1153Return it to its rightful owner
- 53Keep the cash & go on an all night bender
Comments
Many years ago I dropped my wallet on the bus. Had 60$ in there. To my surprise the guy who picked it up and returned it to my house and with money still there. Was very happy and appreciative. I think I even offered him 20$ for his help but he didn't want it. Let's keep Australia and make the world a better place by doing these good deeds
Edit: was a teenager at the time so every monies was valuable and well still is these days
I think taking a tiny finders fee is fine and then handing into the shop/police wherever it was found.
If i could guarantee i would always get my wallet returned with all my cards i would be happy with the finder to take a "Reward"Finding cash is different to finding a wallet.
If I find cash, I'd just consider it a lucky day (and someone's unlucky day) and keep it (unless it was a situation where I saw someone drop it)
If I drop cash I won't expect to see it again. If it was large enough an amount that would cause me grief, then it would be my own fault for being so careless
Been thr done that..even phone returned to owner..
I'm very disappointed in 33 voters today. Shame on them! Or they're trying to be funny. Ha ha š§
Don't steal.
I'd be devastated if I lost 900$ and my wallet etc. Consider what they might have taken out the cash.
Some of them might desperately need the $900 and have answered honestly.
what wallet?
Had a japanese friend whom had her wallet stolen while trying n clothes at shop. Seeing her reaction. I cant help but have a moral obligation to return things to their rightful owner. But sometimes you wonder if the person your handling it to will also do the right thing. But I believe if you the right thing, is all that matters.
Karma is a real
When i said stolen, her wallet holding all her holiday money. About a thousand
Vampires are real too
Please return it.
I am usually very observant, and have found a whole lot of things - always returned.
This includes a wallet with a business card and credit cards (didn't count the money).One was an Opal card , and I tracked it to the owner ( please don't ask me how)- although you could return it to the designated centres, and walked with my work colleague all the way to Star Casino where the person used to work. ( Roughly four years back).
I also returned money (AU$20) which someone had withdrawn from self service checkout in Coles, Epping NSW and gave it to the person at the counter. Didn't know what else to do to trace the actual owner.
Returned another wallet that someone didn't realise they had dropped ( saw it happening and called out).
Then there was the phone at a pub restroom ( it was completely empty, so someone had mistakenly left it, and was too drunk), returned it to the bartender/ counter.
BTW, I have found several gold coins while walking on the road/ parks in and around Sydney. Small amounts, I have kept.
Max was a AUD 20/- and not realising what to do, I just donated equivalent to charity.
Myself, not so lucky in this regard ( I have never lost anything myself, but have been a victim of theft).
During my engineering days, lost my wallet to pick pocketing at a railway station in Kanpur, India. One person distracted me, jumping the queue, requesting I buy a ticket for him - it is an emergency going to miss his train/ sick mother -just as I finished paying for my ticket (putting my wallet in my pocket), handing me the money. While I bought him his ticket, another person picked my pocket. It was all over in seconds, before I realised what had happened. I realised it within seconds, but it was too late. ( Bystanders told me that they work together to steal money from unsuspecting people).
Lost my licence and a bit of money. Maybe they needed the money more than me. One learns. ( Never had my pocket picked ever again, as I keep it in a secure pocket/ zipped / inside of jacket/ in a shoulder bagš)I dropped my wallet once in Woolie. All my credit cards, driving license and $50 cash in it. I went home and then back to Woolie and got it back at lost and found with all contents remained in the wallet.
There are plenty of honest people around!!!
What's a bender anyway?
I would take a look at the name of the owner and probably return it.
But if it was the owner of Australia's largest retailer of furniture, bedding, computers, communications and consumer electrical products, not so much…If it was broden's I would keep the cash :)
If there was a name and someway of contacting the person I wold contact them and they can come pick it up and if they don't thank me I'll keep it if they ever lost it again
The value is immaterial to me. Return to rightful owner.
I found a wallet on the bus. It had money in it and Proof of Age Card. Search on Facebook and find the guy and try calling him several times (went unanswered). So I go to Police Station because itāll be easier to collect it from there rather than Sydney Bus.
Police writes out a report and takes everything out in front of me and details everything. Each note denomination and the coins and the total $. Gets me to sign the statement thatās all thatās in the wallet (with my contact number).
Funny thing was, in one of the compartment, thereās like 8-9 rings. For girls. Cops gives me a funny look and I shrug. Paperwork done and I leave the station.
I try calling the dude again and no dice and think nothing of it and go home. An hour or two later the dude rings me up. I explain myself (he didnāt believe me) so I tell him exactly what his wallet looks like and what cards was in it and how much he had exactly. His words were āyouāre not shitting me are you. You really did find my walletā.
I tell him to go to pick it up from the police station and to have a good reason ready for the rings when he does. He laughed and said it was his GFās.
Nearly 850 "i would return it" vs
Nearly 50 " keep cash"Lol…God people love to lie and pretend they're nice and good online… then i turn off my mobile and open the front door and realise in reality it's the other way around.
Cheers
I found a clutch once walking along the Botanical on St Kilda Road. It had $300 dollars in it without any form of ID. If it wasn't for the house keys, fobs and the remote entry car keys I would've honestly pocketed the money. Ended up handing it into the nearest cop station at Flinders St and left my details. Never found out what happened.
Karma probably paid me back too, lost my wallet twice on my birthday later that year and was returned intact via contacting me through FB message. Second time I lost it at a club and everything was returned to lost and found.
Nice one. Good Karma.
About 10 years ago I found a wallet in cafe.
I opened it up and saw it had a pineapple in it, so took it to the local police station.
The officer at the front desk counted it in front of me (to fill out the form). Ended up being about $800 dollars in there, the $50s just kept coming.
What do you mean the wallet had a pineapple in it??
pineapple —> yellow —> fifty
Oh ok, thanks for explaining that, I've never heard the term before.
Why didnt you hand it in at the cafe?
You will feel very good about yourself after you returned it to owner . $900 is pretty cheap for those kind of feeling :)
When I was younger, I dropped my wallet with $300 in it at the supermarket. A lady returned it to me and I offered to give her $100 for returning it but she declined saying that if it were her son, she would hope someone else would do the same. I was very grateful to for that lady. Although I naturally have the temperament that would do the same anyway, it reaffirmed at least to myself that I should pay it forward if I found a wallet in the same way in future.
I would return the wallet directly to the owner.
I made a mistake once of handing a wallet to hospital security; I used to work at the emergency department so knew the unit very well, and when I genuinely enquired about the status a couple of days later, same bloke tells me with an exaggerated wink "they picked it up, bro; next time, just keep it"…
First and last.
I would do what you wish someone who found your wallet someday would do.
955 vs 41
There is still hope in humanity.
Update: I managed to get in contact with the owner's wife, who turned out to be a friend of a friend of a friend. She picked it up a couple of days ago & was incredibly grateful. Let's keep looking out for each other in these tough times. Stay strong Melbourne!
I really donāt get all the ākarmaā type responses (that doing good will eventually pay itself back). If you find something that isnāt yours and you can trace back the owner, why wouldnāt you? Even if I were to lose my wallet/phone 3x straight without getting it back, it wouldnāt change my perspective on this: I feel good about reuniting people with their stuff, even if itās just a bank card.
Critical thinking skills are pretty poor in Australia
Spot on - theres still an element of self-interest in these 'karma' responses. Wouldn't the right thing to do be to return the lost item, regardless of future reward (or lack thereof)?
Electrician company owner dropped wallet on my driveway, contained over $1,000.
I told my mother, she told me to hand it in. Part of me was annoyed, should of kept it š¤£š¤£š¤£
Anyways, he was thankful. I've always tried to do the right thing.
If you can trace the owner contact them and give it to them directly overwise give the wallet to the police, a good/morale person doesn't profit from someone else's misfortune.
The right thing to do is pretty easy to work out in this scenario isn't it?
You're either a low down piece of shit who keeps the money or you do your best to return the money to the rightful owner.
I walked past a $900 car with the keys still in, should I take it? It is a little banged up.
True story: Many years ago my brother in law dropped his wallet with significant amount of cash which was recovered by an old woman (in her 60-70's) who handed it in the police. He couldn't be more grateful as he was visiting at the time and would've been a sour holiday had he not manage to recover the wallet thanks to the lady's actions.
I myself have also picked up $300 in a shopping centre few years ago (can't remember exactly where now)- decided to hand it in the service desk at nearby Woolies in hope that the rightful owner will recover it (not sure what happened there in the end).
You never know the story behind- but I'd like to think by "doing the right thing" you'd make someone's day.
I've been living in Australia for 15 years now, and it is an honour to be in this country.
I once lost my wallet walking to the gym
Once I left the gym and looked for it, and realized I have losted it, I entered in total panic mode.
So many things that went through my head at that moment that I had to recover, not just the cash I had thought I lost, but contacting banks, reporting lost cards, getting back my medicare card, and worst of all, thinking about someone else in possession of my drivers license.
I walked back to the gym, and there was this girl, one of the staff members, with my wallet, getting it stored in case anyone claims it back.
Turns out, someone else found it at the entrance of the gym and gave it to her.
I felt truly thankful to whomever that person was.
In general, I am thankful for returning a wallet to its rightful owner (me)
I would do the same no questions asked.
I concur. Many many years back I went to Gold Coast for honeymoon. This was my first big holiday in Australia. My wife left her handbag while seating on a bench at sea world. It was packed in summer. Realised after 30 mins or so. There was little money, earrings, mobile etc. but most important it had her foreign passport with the Australian visa. We were panicking, went to the lost and found office without much hope but surprise someone has found it and left it there.
Then once I the wallet fell out of pocket in a tram at Kew. I literally realised it as soon as I got down from the tram but it left. Ran to house and called Yarra trams, they said they will let the driver know and if found will contact me. I knew trams return to Kew tram depot. That evening I went there, explained and lo the someone found it, handed over to driver and driver has left is at the depot.
Another time when visiting Sunshine Coast, on the last day driving to Brisbane stopped at the Maroochydore shopping centre and left my video camera in a clothing shop. Realised when we were at Caloundra, I had no hope after leaving it in a shop with random people. Still called the store and they said they have found it. Drive back, showed license to identify and got back the camera.
But all these 10-20 years back. Donāt know know if it will be same.
I found money notes on the ground for a few time with no information to track the owner, so I kept the money and donate to charity the same amount. If the wallet contains no id, I guess you should do the same
give it back to the owner, or the police. would feel guilty if I kept it. it's not mine.
Give it back with all cash. I have done this the one time I found a wallet - actually I was drunk and gave it to the security guard at the nightclub I was at (which was stupid, given the honesty of the guard was not guaranteed. As I said, I was drunk).
Despite the voting results I don't think this is an accurate representation of society, I reckon wallets are 50-50 to be given back with all cash.
Probably keep it
I once found a wallet full of cards and not much cash in Melbourne. Went to the police station in Flinders Lane and handed it to them. Even if I found the identity I will probably still hand it to a PS, just donāt want to get myself into any issues.
There's a reasonable chance it belongs to bikies.
Just saying.