If you found $10,000 on the street, would you turn it in?

[Dion]

The question of course raises a moral dilema when lost money is found:

The news clip revoles around a homeless woman staying at the YWCA. She finds a purse leaning against the passenger door of a vehicle outside the Rocky Mountain Plaza. Driver takes off and she tries to gain the attention of the driver with no luck.

Wondering what to do with the purse she takes it back to the YWCA. Her concious would let her keep the money. Case manager and the woman find no identification in the purse. They do find $10,400 in hundred-dollar bills inside it and immedately call the police. A mother and her two sons from Edmonton claimed the purse and the cash a short time later.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/10/12...paign=Homeless

So what would you have turned the money in?

1.) Of course. Had that been my money, I would hope someone would do the right thing.

2.) No. Finders keepers.

3.) I'm not sure. It would be a difficult decision.

[JurassicTunga12]

I choose #1. I don't have any money but I would turn it in anyway no matter how much it was. I didn't earn it, it's not mine, so I wouldn't want to keep it. (unless the lottery)

Do the right/good thing and you will be repaid in a positive way at some point down the line.

[Zevo]

Current me would return the money. Twenty something me would have had to think about it.

My moral compass has gotten better with age.

[FlamingLonghorn]

I would have returned it, however if the homeless woman had kept it I wouldn't think it reflects on her negatively. How the hell do you not give a reward for that?

[gargamel]

I wouldn't trust the YWCA or even the police to give the money back to me if the rightful owner was never found, so I'd give the YWCA my contact information (a newly created email address that I'd delete after a week), and tell them to have anyone who claimed to have lost a large sum of money to contact me. If someone responded during that week, I'd ask for a description of the bag and the money, and if it checked out, I'd return it.

If I suspected that it was drug money, I'd be much more tempted to keep it, but the fact that this was all hundred dollar bills makes me think it was probably winnings from a casino.

[Radio]

I'd return the purse and tell them the 10K was already gone ;-)

[Cowperson]

It's a pretty strange amount of cash to be carrying around and especially when the woman treated it so casually that she lost it.

It almost has "criminal activity" written all over it.

Or it might be a beaten woman who spent a couple of years hoarding portions of her weekly grocery allowance and finally had enough to take the kids cross-country to escape. I actually knew of a situation that ended exactly like that.

It was a good idea to turn it into the cops. Let them sort out the legal or illegal questions. I would have turned it in.

Cowperson

[puckluck2]

Hell no.

[speede5]

I sat down in a pub for lunch one day and there was a leather portfolio type thing on the seat. I took it to the bar without opening it and they held it. Halfway through our meal an older man walked in went to the bar, retrieved the portfolio and left. I saw him through the window go to his group of 4, opened the bag and pulled out a huge wad of cash. He didn't countit, but it could easily have been 10K. I worked a bar at the time so I knew what a big cashout looks like. He put it back in, went back to the bar and on his way out the second time said thanks on the way by. When we went to get our bill the waitress told us he had paid for our meal.

I like to think it was some charity group that just did a fundraiser.

I'm also glad I never looked in the bag to start, cause that would have been tempting, haha.

[Daradon]

The few times I've found a wallet or money I've turned it in.

Ten grand is a different story however.

It would depend on the situation. If, like this situation, I felt I saw or knew who lost it (like trying to catch the driver as it happened) my instinct would probably jump at returning it automatically. Even if the first attempt was unsuccessful, I would have already made the decision in my head and turned it in.

However, if I found it with no one around and no clue of where it came from, and I was in a financial situation similar to this lady, I would be very tempted to keep it.

[mykalberta]

Cash on street no purse, I keep it - no questions asked

Cash on street in purse no ID, I think about it.

Cash on street in purse with ID I return it, no questions asked.

[polak]

If there was ID in the purse then I would feel pretty guilty taking it. However, No ID? Pfft hell yeah I'm keeping it.

By turning it in you're trusting a lot of people that will come in contact with it to do the same as you.

That would really help me with a down payment as well...

Also, how the hell do you lose a purse with 10 G's in it? If I'm carrying anything above 200 bucks cash I guard my wallet like it's a child.

[polak]

Originally Posted by speede5

I like to think it was some charity group that just did a fundraiser.

I like to think of it as you directly funding terrorism.

[edn88]

Good for this woman. Wouldn't have begrudged her if she had kept it - with no offense to the woman from Edmonton, but if you are that careless with $10K, perhaps it should belong with the homeless woman (I am obviously assuming that the woman who lost it was wealthy and could afford to loose it).

Personally, I would return it - especially since it was in a purse. I think even $10K in cash I would turn in, and hope that there was a reward or that no one came to claim it.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Cash on street no purse, I keep it - no questions asked

Cash on street in purse no ID, I think about it.

Cash on street in purse with ID I return it, no questions asked.

Yeah but what if it belonged to one of the Sedin sisters?

I'd keep the money, but I'd be nice enough to give the purse back.

[GirlySports]

I would turn it in, I'd be too scared to try and keep and spend possibly stolen money.
Then all of a sudden I could be thrown into something legal I never should have been.

$10000 richer is nice but really not worth possible getting into massive amounts of trouble.

[polak]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I would turn it in, I'd be too scared to try and keep and spend possibly stolen money.
Then all of a sudden I could be thrown into something legal I never should have been.

$10000 richer is nice but really not worth possible getting into massive amounts of trouble.

Pfft.
You split the money into $1000 chunks which you gamble with at different casinos over the course of a month. Each time playing enough to not draw attention to you being there simply to exchange money.

Boom. Money is clean.

Rookie.

[The Yen Man]

I'd turn it over to the police, just because I'm always wary of where the large amount of cash would be coming from. If it's tied to illegal activities, then who knows if I'm putting myself or my family in danger by keeping it.

[malcolmk14]

Here's a question. What's the arbitrary line you draw where you'd keep the money vs. return it.

I would say anything under $1,000 I'm probably giving back. Anything between $1,000 and $10,000 I'm keeping. Anything over $10,000 I'm reporting to the police.

Hard to draw that line though and justify it. If I'd keep $9,900 why wouldn't I keep $10,100 and so on.

[Canehdianman]

If there is ID, I'd give it back.

If there is no ID, in a purse with over 10k in it, then the proceeds are more than likely criminal, and I'd have no qualms about dumping it into my RRSP immediately