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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Just found £90 on the pavement

265 replies

berri · 18/08/2010 18:52

Do I keep it???

DH reckons if I hand it in to the police it'll just make it into one of their pockets, but I can't help thinking it might be some little old lady's gas money...or not!

WWYD?

OP posts:
scurryfunge · 19/08/2010 13:30

Good idea to put a note up but don't give details otherwise the owner will form a queue Smile

MaryBS · 19/08/2010 13:30

Well done for handing it in. You did the right thing.

Rafi · 19/08/2010 13:31

Good on you for handing it in, Berri.

I'd do the note but not mention how much money there was.

Katz · 19/08/2010 13:34

I'd be tempted to post a note saying nothing more than 'Valuable item found here on X day, have been handed into X police station' nothing there to say it was cash so might hopefully allert the proper owner to its whereabouts

MaryBS · 19/08/2010 13:35

Think of all the crap phone calls you might get though, from people "chancing" it! Or even crank calls.

purplefish · 19/08/2010 13:36

ledodgy, I wasn't in the right place yesterday then!! Bloody kids and their activities Grin Wasn't far away though!

bathbuns · 19/08/2010 13:37

When I was 15 I had some friends at a very posh boarding school. On a trip out they found £500 in a wallet. It had details of the owner so could easily have been handed back to him. I was so shocked because they chose to take the money and throw away the wallet. They spent it all on themselves, on luxury items even though they were all very wealthy girls with everything you could possibly want anyway. I was horrified by their behaviour. I wasn't on the trip with them, but saw them with their goodies afterwards. I so wanted to tell someone but was too scared of them. I still feel sorry for the guy who lost such a large amount of money.

Much easier handing money you find in. I would think it weighs on your conscience otherwise, and if it does get returned to the owner they will be so grateful.

Original poster
berri · 19/08/2010 13:37

I was just going to put something like:

Lost Property found here 18th August - please contact xx police station.

OP posts:
purplefish · 19/08/2010 13:37

Anyway, redistribution of wealth in the roads surrounding the town isn't really working for me....most of them have money anyway!

kreecherlivesupstairs · 19/08/2010 14:01

Well done, I found a ring in Lakeside years ago. I initially thought to find a security guard and hand it in but changed my mind and took it to the police station. I had thought about a little old lady stroking her bare finger. A couple of months later the police phoned and asked me if I wanted it. I did and me and DH bought a stone in London and had it made into a different ring.

tametiger · 19/08/2010 16:25

I once found a handbag on a park bench - nice leather bag, £300 in £50 notes, credit and bank cards, house keys, name and address and driving licence. I handed it into police station and eventually the owner sent me a reward. Big envelope, £3.50 postage on it and inside was a box of those choc seashells, the cheap ones, 99p on the market.
My son, then 7, found a wallet full of credit cards etc so we phoned owner and he came round, took the wallet off my son without a thank you or even a bag of sweets as a reward for his honesty.
Another time I picked up debit card from machine but walked off without the £50 I had asked for. Later that day I went into bank and someone had handed in the £50 but left no name or address.
Not sure what I am saying here, except the last incident made the biggest impression on me.

ILoveDonaldDraper · 19/08/2010 17:20

its technically an offence not to hand it into the police - if you are not going to do that you should give it to charity.

ILoveDonaldDraper · 19/08/2010 17:22

tametiger - if you only do the right thing because you expect a prize or a reward - you shouldn't be so smug about having done the right thing.

RubyBuckleberry · 19/08/2010 17:23

its technically an offence not to hand it into the police

no its not - the copper told her so!

Ryoko · 19/08/2010 17:34

Give the money to the police so they can have a few rounds after all it is Friday tomorrow

PussinJimmyChoos · 19/08/2010 17:45

I found £100 in the street once...thought I was on one of those candid camera shows where they want to see how honest Joe Public is and so gave an Oscar performance of being puzzled as to where the money came from and looking to see who dropped it. Was also thinking Shit, I look fat! Grin

I then carried into the nearby supermarket and decided to stop at the customer service desk and ask if anyone had enquired about lost money. The lady said yes! Was it £100 as someone just came in asking if it had been handed in! She ran out to the car park and brought the lady back in that I had seen walking around earlier (newborn DS and all swishy in skinny jeans and boots...envious..moi???).

She was very pleased but then...then she started to COUNT the money out to make sure it was all there! Shock

I said to her - er, its all there, I wouldn't hand it in if was going to steal it! She smiled and gave me a tenner and said thanks...

On the whole, I felt good about it...wasn't obviously meant to have £100 that day but rather a more honest £10

Ryoko · 19/08/2010 17:54

I would have kept the money, Money belongs to no one, a wallet or purse belongs to someone IMO.

I never pick up wallets or purses if I see them in the street, I am a great believer in Sods law and Sods law dictates that if I hand in a purse with £20 in it or something someone would have reported that it had more in it (due to insurance purposes) and it's not worth the hassle to be accused of being a thief.

Money is money, it has no name and address written on it, it is hassle and guilt free, finders keepers, losers weepers.

scurryfunge · 19/08/2010 18:32

What a weird attitude Ryoko.....remember you being quite anti police on another thread too.

Morloth · 19/08/2010 18:34

Have the people who would keep it ever been broke? Like totally out of food, out of money, out of everything broke?

lady007pink · 19/08/2010 18:35

I work in a hospital. Many years ago, I passed the A&E dept to go to the carpark when I spotted a purse on top of a dustbin. I immediately handed it in to the Reception area, and on inspection we discovered there was over IR£100 in it.

I went on holidays for 2 weeks, and came back to hear about the poor lady that had lost her purse. She had collected both hers and her husband's pensions that day, then he collapsed on the street and he was taken by ambulance to hospital.

She was distressed, needed to phone her daughters, looked in her handbag for their phone numbers and pulled out the purse and left it on the bin. She then forgot about her purse.

Losing her purse added to her distress. I would never have considered keeping it (though lots of people told me I was silly to!) - but I would have felt guilty for the rest of my life if I had kept it. It is great to read this thread and see most people are honest.

Well done, OP! You did the right thing!

Starbuck999 · 19/08/2010 18:52

I wouldn't have handed it in. If it were in a purse or wallet and the owner was traceable I would have looked up their number or posted it to them with the money still in it of course, or I would look around and see if someone had just dropped it etc - but if not I'd have kept the £90. I know it's morally wrong, but I'd have kept it anyway, and felt guilty about it. Not the nicest thing to say, but at least I'm honest. There seems to be far too many people on here saying they'd hand it in - goes against the national average of 1 in 5 when polled!

Headbanger - Get real, Of COURSE there are "bent" police officers, every force, organistation etc has members who do not play by the rules. It in no way insults your DH personally. I work for the ambulance service but I am not narrow minded enough to say every single person that works for the NHS is honest and does their job the way it's meant to be done.

ILoveDonaldDraper · 19/08/2010 18:57

ruby buckleberry - coppers don't tend to know that much law.

This is the relevant legislative provision in scotland
www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1982/cukpga_19820045_en_9#pt6-l1g69

I know the same applies in England and Wales but can't remember what act its under and have better things to do than search for it.

Ryoko - you are a mentalist.

To those who say the police would pocket it, I have handed in money lost in the street before - you get a written receipt for it detailing exactly what you handed in and when - the police record the fact that you handed it in in front of you before they issue the receipt. Makes it a bit tricky for them to pocket it.

Perhaps those who keep it rather than hand it in and justify it to themselves on the grounds that the police would keep it anyway are assuming that policemen are as dishonest as them??

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 19:51

starbuck please tell me you can see the ironly in your own post?

"I'd have kept it anyway, and felt guilty about it. Not the nicest thing to say, but at least i'm honest"

eh, no you're not honest, theft is any less of acrime just because you admit you did it!!!

scurryfunge · 19/08/2010 19:52

Yes booyhoo....honest about dishonesty!
Honour amongst thieves , eh?

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 19:53

ryoko money belongs to know one????

so someone steals your identity and manages to get a few hundred out of your account. but hey, money belongs to no-one so you wouldn't be pissed off. and you definitely wouldn't be asking the police to open a case.