EMERGENCY! HELP! I happened to find a wallet full of money?

Question

it's $243! I found it at the shopping center and live right around the block. Should I keep the money or give it back? Should I throw the wallet away or in the parking lot. WHAT SHOULD I DO!

Answer 1

You are only an honest person, if you are honest when no one is watching.
Do all you can to get the wallet and all of it's contents back to the owner. After all they are the owner. If you keep what is not yours you are stealing. That would make you a thief, Greedy, & dishonest. In every transaction with people you will bring the knowlege that you could cheet them. The person you are dealing with will have a feeling not to trust you. Something in you will tell them.


No if you do all you can to get the wallet and all of it's contents back to it's owner. You are an honest person. You are honest because you do what is honest when noone is watching.
$243. is a lot of money, Anyone would think wow what could I do with that? Or the one who lost it, How can I do without it?

I have taken the attitude whenever I find something whick can be returned or if an error is made in my favor, Great! I get to do the right thing. It surprised people sometimes. But I know that I am honest and That I am capable of doing the right thing when noone is watching.

Many times in my family, Wallets, Purses, a Money bag for a bank deposit, have all been returned to us with the money inside.

Keeping the $243. Would cost you more than you could afford. It will cost you something that you couldn't buy with 100 times that amount.

Giveing it back will give you something that you couldn'tt get with 1000 times that amount. Don't cheat yourself out of your self respect and persnal strength of charactor. Besides, It is a Sin to Steal and keeping something that is not yours is Stealing.

God Bless Uou, ;-)

Answer 2

I think you should contact the mall administration/lost and found dept. You never know, this person could be in more need of money than yourself, and wouldn't you like for someone to do the same if you ever lost your wallet? I once lost 80 dollars in a grocery store when I was in University. I was always completely broke, but I just happened to have that amount of cash with me that day. I eventually found it, but if someone had taken it thinking whoever walks around with 80 bucks in cash doesn't need it anyway would've been dead wrong! I nearly took a heart attack when I realised I didn't have it=(

Are there no credit cards or any other way of identifying whose it might be? They might even offer you a reward for turning it in, but if not, you should be happy with knowing you did the right thing!

PS - I wouldn't worry so much about the mall staff keeping the money like others suggested.... maybe just contact them and ask if anyone has reported a missing wallet? They may have the contact info for that person. If the person hasn't reported it yet, you can leave your OWN contact info so they can get the wallet from you directly without worrying about the mall staff.

Answer 3

Well first obviously you checked it for Id, and if there isn't anything with a name on it or a phone number. Then you should take it back to the lost and found at the shopping center. The law requires that if you find over 30 bucks in a wallet you must return it to the proper authorities. Or if there is any information in the wallet call the person and tell them you found it. Good Luck

Answer 4

The anonymity of the wallet with simply a picture gives us no great intutions about the person we are to be charitable towards. We can't even tell by the organization of the contents or the quality of the leather whether you deserve the cash more than they do-- since they could easily be a rich and slob, or vice versa. But pending that information that would make you feel wrongly that you keep the cash--- say the money was needed for their rent, their grandmother's medication, etc -- is it always to err on the side of caution?

Caution in this case would be the interests of the anonymous person. But does the wallet-receiver have no right to be cautious as to the Justice of whether to return the wallet or not? Surely if you knew the cash were to be used to buy a human slave to do scientific experiments on-- you would not hesitate to prevent the cash from returning to that person.

So caution can go both ways. We don't even have to consider the case of "throwing caution to the wind"-- that surely is the less appealing way to go anyhow.

What we do know is that there are far less people with surplus cash, or who (so we may think) will use their capital to fund unforgiving practices. So erring on the side of caution would be to accept the probability that the cash will be something greatly missed and mini-tragedy to the anonymous person.

But again, how is it that ignorance is saving us from the other side of the token? Namely that the cash may be used either wickedly, or is of little use use to it's former owner-- who may just be a robber himself. Truly who carries 240$ around in their wallet? we may come to ask. If the cash were used to buy a bomb to kill schoolchildren during a school play-- wouldn't that possibility weigh heavily on the decision?

That is, where is the burden of proof-- if we assume otherwise we may be complicit in harm.

How, if you choose to contact the wallet-owner, that person is supposed to demonstrate their need for the cash, which they may have worked quite hard for, can be a difficult issue as well-- are you compelled to believe their honest words?

If you were to use the money to save starving children in Africa-- could there still be a greater claim to the cash by the wallet-owner? If they fail to satisfy that condition, how are they still entitled to the responsibility of it's use?

In short, a wallet includes more information than cash found in a stack alone. And we would be far less reluctant to question who has the claim to that faceless cash were it found in a brown bag on a park bench. But what is it about a set of credit cards and a driver's licence that compels you to believe the cash-- which is in YOUR possession, the wallet, YOUR possession -- is nonetheless the property of the former "owner"?

Answer 5

You know what you should do!!!!! The question is what are you going to do? No amount of money is really worth the guilt. If there is no information in the wallet, then you can not find the person that is a different story. In that case, maybe the money was meant for you. However, I doubt that is the case. Look at the license and find the person before this dilemma eats you up.

Answer 6

One correct choice, and one incorrect. The correct choice would be to turn it in at the service desk of the store nearest to where you found it. The correct choice could also be to call the police department and turn it into them. If it is unclaimed after a certain amount of time, it will become yours. If you want to make the incorrect choice, and bring very bad Karma onto yourself, keep it and I could almost guess that you would feel very guilty about doing so. You have obviously thought about the correct thing to do...you are asking total strangers for help. That $243 may be someones money for a week or two, or even a month, if someone is retired; and doesn't have a lot of income. You have to look into your own heart and make the correct decision for you. Good luck!!

Answer 7

The very best thing you can do is to contact the owner yourself, not give it back to the mall because they could steal the money....
So just contact the owner yourself... he will be inmensely happy that you are returning his personal documents because they are a great hassle and time consuming to obtain (ID and drivers license and credit cards).
Also, tell him that you will charge 50% of what cash the wallet contains as your bonus....
It really is one of the greatest pains I have experienced in my life to lose a wallet or a digital camera... last time I lost my digital camera, a kind man got it and he did not give to the people at the restaurant where I left it because he knew they would not give it to me. Instead, he contacted me directly (info was on the camera) and I offered a reward, but he just did not want it... he was just a kind man....
As for the wallet, it contains so many important documents that the owner will probably be happy giving you the cash but at least getting his documents and credit/debit cards back.

Answer 8

Is there id in the wallet? Contact the owner.

Or, go back to the market and see the manager. Ask if someone reported this wallet lost. If not, give the info to the manager and do not use any money in the wallet--no matter what!

Answer 9

80% of humanity would keep the cash, chuck the whole wallet thinking they'll get caught with it, and be done. I however would keep the cash , but not the $1's. Then take the rest of the wallet and mail it to the person from a drop box out of my neighborhood, with no return address and no distinguishing markings that could trace back to me ( now this only works, because I know I have never been fingerprinted ), and mail it back to the owner. I know if I got that package, I would say. " At least I got somebody who gave me back the credit cards, ID's and personal effects, they can keep the money. " Thanks

Answer 10

Return the wallet with everything left inside it. I don't know about you but I would feel horrible if I kept someone's money that I found and had a way to give back to them. Plus, there's this thing called Karma. It basically means that not doing the right thing can come back to bite you in the butt!