Would you be unreasonable to keep one million pounds?

[RainbowWaffles]

Inspired by another thread where tiny theft is essentially de minimus and not a big deal... how about the opposite... if you found one million pounds in the street that belonged to someone else, would you keep it?

You can assume the following:

There is a 0 per cent chance you would get caught
You would have no problem using and spending the money (just forget about all the money laundering prevention laws here)
The money belongs to someone else
You have no idea who it belongs to or what they would use it for

So it is purely a question of morality not practicality. WWYD?

Though just a thought if you found and handed in a million to police and never collected by owner would you get it back?

If you hand it in, the owner collects it

I would be terrified a drug dealer from a organised gang own it, so I would not take it or hand it in.
If I was fully sure, no one would find out a part of me would consider it. blush

You can be fully sure

Totally keep it. I’d help a lot of people with that money. Including myself and my family.

I once found a wallet outside Tesco filled with notes. Must have been more than a couple of £100 in there. I couldn't close it shut.
I handed it in without a second thought.

Boyfriend at the time, went mad when I told him.

No, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I kept it so I'd hand it in. I would be constantly thinking that it was either someone's life savings or money from drugs or some awful crime.

I would hand it in to a police station and get a record of day time ext. If no one claimed it maybe I would still be given it or some of it. It someone did claim it maybe I would be given a substantial reward by a very grateful person very glad not to have lost the lot.

I'd keep it.

To the people thinking they would keep the money, where do you draw the line from an insignificant amount to something more substantial?

That’s what I think is interesting. I kinda think the opposite of some of the logic. Tiny amount- it’s not worth becoming a ‘thief’ for the sake of a plant (contrary to some of the logic that it is so small it doesn’t matter). Medium amount- I can still keep atop my moral high horse. Large amount- well, for a million, would I become a thief?! Hmm...

I’d hand it in .... and secretly hope for a reward

Langrish I salute your absolute honesty:-)

user1471530109 I think that speaks volumes about your BF;(

?The million in question? nah! straight ot the cop shoppe with it!.

£100 yes I would. A million I don't think I could. But where would it go otherwise?

Nope would not keep it, its not mine irrespective of me never being found out.

Totally outing but we arrived I. A hotel in Vegas and there was a massive stack of notes in the open safe, many many thousands I would guess, not a million. I immediately called reception who sent the safebreak team in, I was terrified some dodgy dealer / gambler would show up in the middle of the night. We got moved to another room. Slightly different to your scenario!

But where would it go otherwise?

If you hand it in, it goes back to its owner.

When I was younger my friend who was in the care of social services at the time had £250 (it was money from an old savings account that she'd just managed to gain access to). She had it in her pocket in notes, no envelope, nothing identifying. She lost it on the train. Just fell out of her pocket. She was beside herself. More to make her feel better than anything else we told her we'd report it missing and maybe someone would have handed it in. In fact they actually did and she got it back. I've always remembered how much that money meant to her and how touched she was someone had been honest.

@RainbowWaffles if I knew it would go back to the owner I would hand it in, and hope they gave me a small percentage as a thank you!

Just thinking about this, if I found an envelope with £200 I would hand it in under the same conditions as above.

A million pounds, nope , I would keep it without a doubt.

Hand it in - I could never be a thief

If you're referring to the charity shop thread, dumped goods in a street do not belong to someone else. They are free to take.

I'd certainly keep it while I thought about it. Wouldn't spend it for a goodly while.

Used to work in banking. Cash is only useful for off the books spending. Realistically it's difficult to spend more than 20k a year or do in cash. Or at least that's what I worked out.

Langrish wish there were more people who were as honest as you. The world would be a better place if there was!

Yup. Totes would. No problemo.

Not quite the same, but last week I noticed a guy who was bending over sorting out a bike lock or something, and he had a couple of twenty pound notes almost falling out of his back pocket. He had headphones on and was talkign on his phone. I gently tapped him on the shoulder to tell him. By that time the money was on the floor. I didn't get a thank you. Perhaps he had a lot going on, but if I hadn't pointed it out his money would probably have been gone.

hand it in

The dilemma isn't getting caught, it is the impact on the victim. Unless I knew it was Mark Zuckenbergs loss change, i would not want to deprive someone of what could be their life savings

So the "fact" that it is claimed heavily implies it is a meaningful amount of money to the person who lost it.

Let's add to your scenario, RainbowWaffles - you find out the £1 million was lost by someone who needed it to pay for their child's life saving operation. Would you still keep it now you know whose it is and what it is for? And would it really never cross your mind to wonder or care when you found something so valuable?