Live Life Team
Every so often, we are faced with an awkward situation: A wallet, clearly belonging to someone, has been left next to us on the bus or is found at our feet on the sidewalk. We know, rationally, that this is a huge inconvenience for the wallet’s owner, and that if it were our lost wallet, we would want to get it back as soon as possible. However, it is also a mild inconvenience to us to be the newly responsible party for getting it back safely. What does one do with this unsolicited burden? In the ideal scenario, you can still see the owner walking away from the scene and call after them or run to catch up before they get away. It is common, though, to have no idea the intended destination or the chosen path of the owner. How can you get in touch with the individual to securely return their wallet and its contents?
One approach to take is to try to reach out to the person directly. This can be done in a few different ways:
Phone
If, by some miracle, the person has left a business card of theirs in the wallet, you can use the contact information on the card (if any) to connect. You could even use the company name to find a head office number you can call. Often, a head office will have a directory where you can find someone’s phone number within the company by typing in their name (which you should know based off the ID likely found in the wallet).
Similar to the case of a phone number, you may be able to find someone’s email address on a business card in the wallet. Alternatively, you may be able to find their email online through a company directory.
Social media
If you have enough information, you may be able to find the person on a social media site and ask a few verification questions to determine if it is, indeed, their wallet.
Be sure you are giving the wallet to the correct individual if you go the route of returning it directly!
Alternatively, you can drop off the wallet at a police station where they will have more resources to see it returned to its rightful owner.
