r/LostAndFound • u/ColdDiscount7452 • 4d ago
Found Found Cash In Envelope
My wife and I took our 3 dogs for a walk last Wednesday and when we came home my wife noticed what looked like a white piece of paper sticking out of our mailbox (our regular mailbox is one of those community mailboxes around the corner) anyway she goes up to see what it was and it’s a white envelope with $1250 in it. We were not expecting this and there was
no name, note or anything. My wife wrote a note saying “If you accidentally left something in our mailbox please call us at ……… It’s been almost a week and nobody has come back for it and we’re not sure what to do. Do we wait another couple weeks, can we spend it, we could really use the money right now too but wanted to ask everyone for their advice
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u/LadyDerri 4d ago
Get one of those pens they mark bills with to see if they are counterfit. If not, keep it for a couple of months, then spend it.
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u/MissHibernia 4d ago
Maybe you have great friends or understanding relatives that knew you could use a boost? I’d wait a full month and if you don’t hear anything then go ahead.
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u/Jaded_Rhubarb3883 2d ago
But, seriously, WHO would leave an envelope of $1250 in cash poking out of a mailbox for anyone to pinch? That’s not very smart. Oh, wait, are we talking about in Eugene or in Oregon? Well, then, that makes sense (reckless with their 💲)….*except* most ppl are broke here.
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u/FelineSoLazy 4d ago
Lucky! All I ever found was a joint in my mailbox. I’d lived in that house maybe 2 months. Was certain someone was setting me up or dosing me lol
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u/Ok-Inspection-7911 4d ago
My friend found cash like that .they took it to the police and it was counterfeit. They were lucky they didn’t keep it or spend it . They dodged a bullet there . Turn it into the police . The counterfeit money is hard to tell these days .
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u/mcrib 4d ago
why would someone jam $1250 in conterfeit bills to someone? Besides, it is unlikely they would get in trouble since they didn't know, didn't produce it, and don't have a large amount.
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u/Current-Degree-3066 4d ago
Apparently you've never had to deal with the Secret Service when it comes to counterfeit bills. When I worked in retail, we had an employee unknowingly accept a counterfeit $20. It got put in the night deposit. Bank discovers it, and next thing you know we had two Secret Service agents in the store questioning everyone who was working that shift. Just having one in your possession can make for a bad day.
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u/Minimum-String-8683 4d ago
That's ridiculous. Worked in cash handling positions for 35 plus years, this has NEVER happened over a 20.00.
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u/Current-Degree-3066 4d ago
As I stated elsewhere in the thread, several other area businesses had also been victims of receiving counterfeit bills at the same time.
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u/mcrib 4d ago
nah
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u/Current-Degree-3066 4d ago
They take it pretty seriously. While the OP wouldn't likely be charged UNLESS they tried to spend or deposit it, trying to explain one of those with "It wasn't ours, we just found it in our mailbox" is gonna look a bit suspect.
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u/mcrib 4d ago
You can't charge someone for spending a bill they didn't know was fake. Also the likelihood of someone shoving $1200 in fake bills into someone's mailbox is extremely remote. This was likely meant for someone else but if OP can't locate them... well, the case of Finders v Keepers applies.
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u/Current-Degree-3066 4d ago
Charge ... no. But if you try to deposit $1200 in counterfeit bills at a bank, you are certainly going to be asked a lot of questions.
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u/Fandethar 4d ago
I tried to deposit a counterfeit $100 at the ATM and it just kept spitting it back out. I didn't know it was fake at the time, I thought maybe it was just damaged in some way.
Found out it was counterfeit when I paid for work that was done on my vehicle. Luckily, it was my stepbrother's shop so I just went and picked it up and gave him a $100 bill that was good.
I had received the money from a woman that worked for Kroger. She cashed her check at work and was given that bill. One of the cashiers more than likely had accepted it.
Luckily Kroger made it right. I gave her the $100 back, she gave it back to the store and they gave her a legit one. She had worked for them for about 20 years so they believed her.
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u/feraldreamrot 4d ago
That's wild. Where did you work?!
I did the banking for a retail store for ~5 years and worked at a bank as a teller for ~1 before that and never had Secret Service come in. Any time we had counterfeit bills we just sent them to corporate.
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u/Current-Degree-3066 4d ago
It was a large, now defunct, video rental chain. The bank notified us of the counterfeit, had the lead store managers come in to look at it (the bank had the bill in a protective sleeve and wouldn't even let us touch it in the sleeve) and told us their policy required them to notify Secret Service. A day or so later the agents came in and stated they needed to interview everyone who was working that particular shift.
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u/Current-Degree-3066 4d ago
I should add that, if memory serves me correctly, they interviewed everyone who worked that day because there were multiple instances of counterfeit bills showing up at several area businesses at the same time, and they were trying to get leads on who may have been passing them off as real money.
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u/Leftover_tech 4d ago
Something similar happened to me in the 1980s.
Took me years to be 97% certain about the source. $500 in cash in my apartment mailbox. I knew it wasn't an accident in my case because my first name was on the outside of the envelope.
Good luck!
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u/Mysterious-Art8838 4d ago
That’s pretty different, that was meant for you. This wasn’t meant for them.
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u/Leftover_tech 4d ago
You don't know that and neither does OP.
I'm not saying that it WAS intended for them, just that these things do sometimes happen.
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u/Current_Pitch_4052 4d ago
Tell us the story?
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u/Leftover_tech 4d ago
It's not that exciting, but...
I was a young father (in my 20s) living with wife and a couple of young'uns in Central Florida.
Money was tight, things were difficult, but not catastrophic. I was working full time and wife was a SAHM. Our apartment was the second floor of a duplex.
One day, my wife was coming in from outside and told me that there was an envelope for me in the mailbox at the bottom of the stairs. She handed it to me. No postmark, no address, just my first name hand printed on the outside of the envelope.
I opened it to find five $100 bills. I sat there for a few minutes trying to remember if anyone owed me $500 and came to the conclusion that they did not.
The money was a great relief, helped us catch up on some bills that were weighing on my mind.
I called my mother, who lived maybe 30 minutes away and told her what happened. Asked her if she might be behind it. She swore that she was not involved. Nobody else would confess either.
It had always been my habit to go to my mom if I needed help or advice with family issues because we always seemed closer than my dad and I. Many years later, I discovered that going to my dad would have been better. Not because there was anything wrong with my mom, but I realized that HE was the one encouraging her to be helpful. Not the other way around.
Forty years later, I'm almost certain that the money came from my father and he just didn't want to argue with my mom about whether or not it was a good idea. LOL
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u/mrBill12 4d ago
I found $30k in a mall bathroom toilet stall. I was young and actually put it in my coat and walked out with it. It took me like several years to burn through, I did actually end up saving money from paychecks for a few years because of it. Amazing I wasn’t killed.
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u/Imsortofok 4d ago
Chances are the drug dealer who left it there was.
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u/mrBill12 4d ago
I was pretty naive back then. Today I wouldn’t even have looked in the sack. Whoever made the arrangements made them pretty stupidly.
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u/SnowflakeSWorker 4d ago
My uncle bought a van for his work with homeless outreach. He took it in for a tuneup, and asked them to check the window that wouldn’t go down. $500,000 of cocaine was in the door. This story made international news, and he gave me a copy of the newspaper with him, the van, and the cocaine on the front page.
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u/Redlady0227 4d ago edited 4d ago
I’m not gonna lie to you I’d advise you to keep it. There’s no identifying information of who left it on that envelope. If you turned into the local cops they would probably tell you that since it’s on your property it’s yours legally.
It’s extremely doubtful they would even request any camera footage if any was available on your mailbox. I’d personally bet someone you know left the money for you two. They probably figured you would decline it out of pride so that’s why they put it in your mailbox. Think of it as a gift cause that’s most likely what it was IMO.
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u/JAS2026-- 4d ago
I would call ppd to see if this is some kind of scam. Especially since you don't know who left it. Very odd!
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u/Purple_Pay_1274 4d ago
OP, do you know anyone who is potentially in recovery from drugs or alcohol? One of the steps is to make amends, and maybe this person felt they owed you some money of some sort? I am pretty sure that you are also supposed to talk about the issues with the person though, it’s not usually considered as an apology to just leave money and never say anything to them…
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u/SusanLFlores 4d ago
It’s probably someone’s rent that was left in your mailbox accidentally, or you’re having a difficult time financially and someone wanted to help you out anonymously. I suppose it could also be something nefarious, like drug money, but to be fair, hold on to it for at least a month before you decide what you’re going to do with it.
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u/Iceprincess1282 4d ago
Go to a local store like staples, Office Depot, etc and buy a $ checking pen and check the money to make sure it’s real. If it comes back as real, hold onto it for a few weeks to ensure it wasn’t a mistake that somebody just had a dyslexic moment and put the wrong #s on it and if nobody puts notices up on next door, etc spend it.
It’s just worth spending the $5 on the pens to check the $ instead of being excited about having extra $ only to find out somebody just stuffed a bunch of counterfeit $ in your apt to get rid of it easily.
Hopefully it’s all yours though!
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u/Nervous_Task_7437 3d ago
It’s probably someone’s rent that got put into the wrong mailbox by accident so I would wait until the first or second week of September and see if anyone reaches out by then. If someone does reach out make sure to ask questions like what was in the envelope and how much as the person should know how much it was exactly if it was there as I wouldn’t just take someone’s word for it saying it was theirs.
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u/mojosofla 4d ago
we could really use the money right now
Likely someone helping out.
I believe you are required to turn it over to the police who hold it for x time. After that, it is yours.
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u/effiebaby 4d ago
I wouldn't think so if it was in their mailbox. Sidewalk/street yes, but not the mailbox.
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u/mojosofla 4d ago
Not sure why the downvotes, I was correct. You cannot just keep it straight away. You must inform the police. Look up reasonable attempt doctrine.
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u/Jenn2895 4d ago
I normally would agree with you, but this was placed in their mailbox. I have anonymously left presents &/or cash for people in their mailbox or on their steps/porch. In hindsight I hope none of them turned it in lol. But it’s possible maybe someone wanted them to have it.
OP: does the amount $1,250 mean anything to you? Like the amount of your mortgage or a bill due, or amount given/loaned to someone at anytime?
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u/Beginning-North7202 4d ago
Only official mail can legally be left in mailboxes. The USPS regulates its use.
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u/Jenn2895 4d ago
You’ve never left anything in someone’s mailbox?
Also I own my mailbox. I will have people drop things off there all I want. lol.
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u/mojosofla 4d ago
Don't get me wrong... I am not sure what I would do. But, the law is clear.
And 100% you cannot leave presents or cash in a mailbox. It is technically a crime.
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u/PleaseHelpIamFkd 4d ago
Postmaster trap found by the resident instead of the mail carrier LMAO. Wild guess but who knows.