# Found Wallet -- How to Contact Owner Quickly? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 29, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228 "2016-07-29T21:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/21 "2016-07-31T02:37:01Z")
After a half marathon ran down my street, I found a wallet and a phone held together with a rubber band in my yard. I took it down to the police station. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/22 "2016-07-31T03:05:50Z")
> [@Me\_Billy](#): > > Take it to your local Police Department. This. White pages is a non-starter – nobody has a landline any more. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/23 "2016-07-31T03:56:15Z")
Does it have a bank card or bank issued credit card? Take it there. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/24 "2016-07-31T04:12:05Z")
An appropriate response is to drop it in a USPS box. [They will return it.](http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/507.htm) > [@](#): > > 1.9 > Dead Mail > 1.9.1 Basic Information > [6-6-16] Dead mail is matter deposited in the mail that is undeliverable and cannot be returned to the sender. A reasonable effort is made to match articles found loose in the mail with the envelope or wrapper and to return or forward the articles. The disposition of dead mail items is as follows: > > a. Nonmail matter (e.g.,\*\* wallets and bank deposits\*\*) found in collection boxes or at other points within USPS jurisdiction is returned postage due at the single-piece First-Class Mail or Priority Mail price for keys and identification devices that is applicable based on the weight of the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/25 "2016-07-31T04:13:20Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > This. > > White pages is a non-starter – nobody has a landline any more. For the record, people leave wallets and purses at my store on a regular basis, once or twice a month, I use whitepages . com for that. I also use when I have to deliver something and the sender didn’t have a phone number but I want to make sure the recipient is home. Whitepages gets me a good phone number, probably, 80% of the time. (Many of these people are older, though). Sure, most people have cell phones now, but to just write it off because ‘nobody has a landline’ is silly. It takes 30 seconds to see if there’s any useful info there. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/26 "2016-07-31T11:32:10Z")
Come back, **Sailboat** , and tell us what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/27 "2016-07-31T13:03:22Z")
I found a lost debit card, and Facebooked her - was in contact within a few hours. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/28 "2016-07-31T13:32:21Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > For the record, people leave wallets and purses at my store on a regular basis, once or twice a month, I use whitepages . com for that. I also use when I have to deliver something and the sender didn’t have a phone number but I want to make sure the recipient is home. Whitepages gets me a good phone number, probably, 80% of the time. (Many of these people are older, though). > Sure, most people have cell phones now, but to just write it off because ‘nobody has a landline’ is silly. It takes 30 seconds to see if there’s any useful info there. Yup. Pretty much everyone I know still has a land line (and cell). But they are on the way out. My Wife and I have one because cell service is hinky where we live. But now the land line is undependable too. Don’t ask about internet service… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/29 "2016-07-31T14:03:43Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > This. > > White pages is a non-starter – nobody has a landline any more. Then who are all the people in the white pages? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/30 "2016-07-31T14:12:32Z")
There was a business card for a medical office in the wallet I found so I called them. I explained that I’d found this mans wallet and asked if they could look to see if they had a client by the name. They did and so I asked them to call him directly and let him know. I was then able to return the wallet. Luckily, he hadn’t yet realized that he’d left it so he didn’t have to go through the trouble of canceling his cards. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/31 "2016-07-31T14:24:35Z")
Call the phone number on the credit cards, & ask for their help in returning it? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/32 "2016-07-31T14:27:09Z")
See the update. It’s been returned. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/33 "2016-07-31T14:39:01Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > See the update. It’s been returned. What update? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/34 "2016-07-31T14:42:18Z")
From a couple of years ago: [Marshawn Lynch Finds Guy’s Wallet At Gas Station, Goes To His House To Return It](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/20/marshawn-lynch-wallet_n_6192322.html) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/35 "2016-07-31T14:49:42Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What update? nm- my mistake. I conflated post #30 with the OP. Off to find coffee… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/36 "2016-07-31T14:51:49Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > nm- my mistake. I conflated post #30 with the OP. > > Off to find coffee… You’re a moderator. By deleting (now) four posts, you can make the mistake go away. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/37 "2016-07-31T14:54:14Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Turn it in to the bus/train company. He’s probably already called them looking for it. DON’T do this! With all of the criminals, degenerates, & lowlife working there (or at least at our local transhit agency) he’d be lucky to ever see the leather again, let alone the currency inside of it. Second, third, twentieth (?) for [whitepages.com](http://whitepages.com) or [anywho.com](http://anywho.com) ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/38 "2016-07-31T16:58:50Z")
Is there a library, health insurance, or car insurance card in the wallet? I found a wallet last year and called the woman’s local car insurance agent and asked him to contact her. I dropped the wallet off to his office and she picked it up then called me with her thanks. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/39 "2016-07-31T17:39:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > You’re a moderator. By deleting (now) four posts, you can make the mistake go away. 😃 Oh sure. That’s just what you’d like me to do. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228/40 "2016-07-31T23:02:00Z")
I know this lost wallet story is now happily resolved, but when I left my purse behind in a fast food joint, the manager found my debit card, called my bank and my bank called me to tell me my purse was safe and sound in the manager’s office at Hardee’s. And it was, every dime still in there! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-how-to-contact-owner-quickly/761228.md?page=3)