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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this was dodgy?

81 replies

Spatchcocked · 19/12/2023 16:14

Let me preface this by saying this didn’t / doesn’t affect me at all and is incredibly low stakes, but I’m a nosy bugger and want to know what was going on!

I was in a large shopping centre today waiting to speak to customer services. In front of me was a woman who wanted to buy vouchers (you can purchase generic vouchers for the shopping centre which can be used in any shop). She bought £1000 of vouchers using cash from an envelope which honestly must have had thousands of pounds in cash inside. It took absolutely ages because they had to get a manager to check the notes.

My friend thought she was laundering drugs money, but I think it was undeclared income and she was buying vouchers so that she could get Christmas presents without having to have the money to pay for them in her account. A few shops in that centre are cashless now, or I suppose she could just have paid cash.

Am I unduly suspicious? Maybe there’s a totally legitimate reason why you would do this, but I couldn’t think of one!

OP posts:
EarringsandLipstick · 19/12/2023 16:17

What an absolutely bizarre thread.

Firstly, how will MN know?

Secondly, I can't believe you were speculating about her method of payment & why she had cash. I'm nosey too but this is next level.

Slobberchops1 · 19/12/2023 16:17

Well it could be for multiple reasons couldn’t it , all of which don’t affect you in any way so keep your nose out

OneTC · 19/12/2023 16:17

Some people do just keep loads of money. It isn't always dodgy.

I only got a bank account a few years previously and only used to work for cash previously. NOT cash in hand. I paid tax but got paid in cash by my employer

EdinGirl · 19/12/2023 16:18

A lot of people are keeping cash now, with the state of the world.
Also banks are becoming increasingly unreliable.

I know people who have had their bank accounts closed or the systems go down for hours etc

Lots of my friends and my mum keep a certain amount of cash in the house now. A few months living costs worth.

Potentially she also has done this and maybe found herself short for Christmas shopping so dipped into it.

Alternatively she is laundering drug money haha

Sauvblanctime · 19/12/2023 16:20

Could be self employed / a stripper / a drug dealer

either way

none of your business 🙄

TinselTitts · 19/12/2023 16:21

Dunno, my mate's a Driving Instructor and whilst most of her pupils use bank transfer, some still pay her in cash so she saves it all up for Christmas and Easter 🤷‍♂️

Bananalanacake · 19/12/2023 16:21

I always use cash as I think my card details will be stolen easily.
Maybe she has lots of nieces, nephews and was getting them all vouchers,

Original poster
Spatchcocked · 19/12/2023 16:22

I did say it was low stakes and doesn’t affect but mumsnet wouldn’t be mumsnet if people didn’t get to shout mind your business 😂

interesting some people are more likely to carry cash now than they used to, my experience is the opposite - so many businesses around here are becoming cashless.

my friend did suggest stripping but the notes were all £50s. Maybe she was a highly talented one!

OP posts:
SutWytTi · 19/12/2023 16:23

Some people do keep a fair amount of cash. It is still a thing for some people not to trust banks. Other people have businesses where they get paid in cash (such as our local car wash and the flower stall at the station).

I wouldn't immediately assume something dodgy.

CurlewKate · 19/12/2023 16:24

My fil ran a legitimate small business and always worked in cash if he could. He always had a bundle of notes in his shirt pocket. I asked him why once and he said he felt safer that way.

BrieAndChilli · 19/12/2023 16:27

could be her husband is a kitchen fitter or a plumber or somethinig who sometimes gets paid in cash - hence £50s
or she had just sold a car cash to a buyer

PhulNana · 19/12/2023 16:29

@OneTC

Some people do just keep loads of money. It isn't always dodgy

Isn't there some weird fad at the moment for keeping cash in various envelopes, as some kind of (very) rudimentary budgeting technique? Incredibly risky. But a grand in gift vouchers? Maybe they have 10 or 20 rellies they want to give them to? Some crazy people don't believe in banks. If it was serious laundering, would they be doing it in public, in earshot of others?

Catza · 19/12/2023 16:30

My partner runs a small business and often gets cash for his services. I sometimes transfer him money to cover payments before he can get to the bank and he pays me back with cash. I never spend cash so amass vast sums of money in the house stashed in various envelopes. My grandmother would also often give me cash for my birthday. All money (except granny's gifts) is declared. I went to the car garage the other week to pay for my repairs with cash in a very similar fashion as the lady in your shopping center. Couldn't give two hoots about what people thought of me.

rockingbird · 19/12/2023 16:31

All £50's 😬 yeah highly suspicious. Sorry but how do you come across tons of £50 pound notes .. that said when my mother passed away her house was full of money stashed away and no one knew about it! I'm talking about £1000's and she always complained about being skint ☺️ every coin counted and bagged up, notes rolled and banded - quite bizarre.

HelpMeGetThrough · 19/12/2023 16:32

Is it dodgy that I paid for all our replacement windows in cash, a lot more than £1000, taken to the office in a brown envelope no less and that I paid for our new TV in cash in front of a lot of people in the shop, not far off £1000?

I guess for you and your friend, it would be.

I pretty much pay for everything in cash.

Catza · 19/12/2023 16:33

rockingbird · 19/12/2023 16:31

All £50's 😬 yeah highly suspicious. Sorry but how do you come across tons of £50 pound notes .. that said when my mother passed away her house was full of money stashed away and no one knew about it! I'm talking about £1000's and she always complained about being skint ☺️ every coin counted and bagged up, notes rolled and banded - quite bizarre.

You go to the bank and withdraw the money. Or you work as a builder, plumber, car mechanic, hairdresser... and your customers go to the bank and withdraw the money which they then pay to you... It is really not that difficult to get a hold of a stack of 50s.

HanSB · 19/12/2023 16:35

I wouldn't automatically assume it was suspicious. I had to help my great aunt buy Christmas presents for her family and she presented me with over £1000 in cash to do so. I think there are a lot of elderly who have a large amount of cash stored. My friend discovered tens of thousands hidden away in her father's house that he told her about when he was admitted to hospital and she's not sure how to deposit it all in the bank as it could look dodgy but isn't, just the way her father saved and stashed cash!

MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 19/12/2023 16:36

I take lump sums of cash out of my building society account to pay cash for large things. I don't have a card with the account. Just a pass book.

This time of year I take out enough to cover Christmas at the end of November.

Chugnut · 19/12/2023 16:39

When I did match betting I'd withdraw from shops, or cash point, shops quite often gave 50 notes.

amiold · 19/12/2023 16:42

Your friend has a bit of an imagination and the pair of you need to get out more 🤷

My dad is self employed - he and my mam both carry cash. Her sometimes high amounts (she had £2000 in her bag only last year to get me a pram for her grandchild). They aren't dealing drugs and I can't imagine she'd make a decent stripper (or him)

GnomeDePlume · 19/12/2023 16:48

When DH was an electrician a lot of people would pay in cash. DH would spend the cash as he would pay charges at the bank if he deposited it.

Nothing dodgy, all declared for tax purposes (I did his books for him)

FinnJuhl · 19/12/2023 16:49

You could be right, OP.

I tried to buy just 4 gift vouchers at Tesco yesterday (total value 80 quid) and was refused. Apparently, they have had so many scams involving vouchers that it is now policy to only sell 3 at a time. I was trying to think what the scams could be, but money laundering is the most obvious risk.

Wolfpa · 19/12/2023 16:49

There is a huge scam going on at the moment where people are convinced to purchase vouchers to keep their money safe and then to pass the codes over for online shopping.

It is almost impossible to get any money back in these cases so maybe instead of money laundering they were being scammed.

Ponoka7 · 19/12/2023 16:50

I payed my builder in cash, he declared his earnings. He got houses he rents out and has never claimed benefits. I got my cash via my partner who is a taxi driver. My DD pays her MUA, laser and nail women in cash. They are legit. I know people who do balloons etc and although they offer transfer, they often get paid in cash. Some people prefer to save cash. My DD withdraws a monthly amount and buys Euros with it, just before she's due to go away. Cash doesn't equal dodgy.

zingally · 19/12/2023 16:53

She's probably got a little cash in hand job. "Converting" to to a gift card is quite a common "low stakes" money laundering method, when you don't want your bank account to "see" the money.

I've had a number of friends over the years who have dealt with cash from hush!-hush! jobs like this. There's a bit of an attitude of "what the taxman doesn't know, won't hurt him."