# You find a winning lottery ticket, along with a stranger's ID. What are you most likely to do. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229 "2011-01-27T20:30:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/61 "2011-01-28T16:27:53Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Don’t most lotteries have a clause saying that if you win, they can publicize your name and image however they wish? > > Given this, I wonder if it’d have made a difference to some people if the jackpot had still been high, but less likely to gain public attention? Or been super high, and MORE likely? > > (I assume the OP specified “random numbers” to assure us that the guy who lost the wallet would never recognize that his numbers won, or that someone else was claiming it, just from news reports.) Precisely. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/62 "2011-01-28T16:44:32Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I’d say an optimistic veiw of humanity would be that one in a thousand might give it back. That’s being _very_ optimistic mind you. The fact the we have less than fifty people posted to this thread as of yet and already a handful have said they would give it back is just bull shit. I’m sorry, but it is. Keep in mind it’s skewed by the fact that they aren’t holding a multi million dollar winning ticket in their hands. People can convince themselves of a lot until they’re in that situation. That said there is another twist possible - I run a lottery group at work. If I lost an unsigned ticket there would still be 13 photocopies of that ticket showing that our group had purchased it. That said, if I checked the numbers I would be very very seriously tempted to keep and cash the ticket myself. I can’t say for sure what I would do but given my deep hatred of winter and my ongoing desire for a warm weather home I suspect that I would give into that temptation. If I did I would do nothing to hint to the person whose wallet I had found that that ticket had won. No anonymous cash. If I want to apease my guilt I’d donate some money and time to charity. No sense setting yourself up to get caught. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/63 "2011-01-28T16:51:36Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > The wallet would go down the nearest storm sewer and I would cash the ticket. If there was any cash in the wallet, I’d keep that too. Just because I now have 20 million dollars doesn’t mean I should start throwing money away. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/64 "2011-01-28T16:57:46Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I’d say an optimistic veiw of humanity would be that one in a thousand might give it back. That’s being _very_ optimistic mind you. The fact the we have less than fifty people posted to this thread as of yet and already a handful have said they would give it back is just bull shit. I’m sorry, but it is. OK, we disagree then. (and you’ve insulted a bunch of people). You could just be wrong, you know. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/65 "2011-01-28T17:36:39Z")
I would do one of two things: phone the guy and tell him to meet me at the lottery office where I would have a film crew showing me being the good Samaritan and giving him his ticket and wallet back. Then if he wants to stiff me, he looks like a heel. Either way, I’m a hero. Or I’d cash the ticket, return the wallet, and send him a briefcase full of cash anonymously. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/66 "2011-01-28T18:16:57Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > OK, we disagree then. (and you’ve insulted a bunch of people). You could just be wrong, you know. I’ll bet you 80 million dollars he’s not. But I won’t be able to pay off unless I steal that ticket. Should I? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/67 "2011-01-28T18:19:21Z")
Cash the ticket. Send the guy back his wallet along with a dollar (or whatever the cost of the ticket was). ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/68 "2011-01-28T18:53:37Z")
I can’t honestly look at my life and see being in a better place just because I have a whole bunch of money. I don’t play the lottery and have no desire to win. I honestly think I’d be more likely to steal a small sum than a large one, but I just don’t have enough of a desire for money to make the guilt worthwhile. And I would feel a ton of guilt. I think if I told my boyfriend I had the ticket in my hands and sent it back, he might never speak to me again, though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/69 "2011-01-28T18:53:49Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’ll bet you 80 million dollars he’s not. But I won’t be able to pay off unless I steal that ticket. Should I? No idea. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/70 "2011-01-28T19:08:11Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I think if I told my boyfriend I had the ticket in my hands and sent it back, he might never speak to me again, though. 😃 That is completely false. It would just be difficult to understand my speech through the uncontrollable sobbing. I voted for the second option both ethically and as for what I’d actually do. I don’t think I’d ever be able to fully enjoy that money if I felt like I knew whom it had belonged to and didn’t return it to them. Sure, I’d probably hope for a reward, but the odds of someone being kind and handing me a large portion of that cash are just as likely as the person being a jerk and saying, “Thanks, sucker!” and not sharing his good fortune. In which case, I’d enjoy reading all the stories in the news about his troubled past and seeing his mug shots in the paper, and I’d look forward to the documentary down the line about how he’d lost his fortune. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/71 "2011-01-28T19:23:38Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I can’t honestly look at my life and see being in a better place just because I have a whole bunch of money. … Where do you live? I can think of so many better places than where I live. Bali, Cancun, Jamaica… the list goes on. Of course at all of them I would be surrounded by machine gun toting security guards. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/72 "2011-01-28T19:32:51Z")
I’d figure it’s God’s way of having me win the lottery even though I don’t play. And who wants to mess with God’s plan? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/73 "2011-01-28T19:43:29Z")
Yeah…I consider myself a pretty ethical person. I once gathered up several $20 bills I saw fluttering around a bank ATM and returned them to the bank. I’m not exactly dishonest. However…I think I’ve found my breaking point. I’d like to think I’d be all high minded and return the ticket, but odds are pretty good I’d sign it and redeem it. That’s a hell of a lot of money. If I hadn’t found the guy’s wallet, somebody else would have (or not). Either way, chances are high that he wouldn’t get the ticket back. I know that’s not a justification. But there you go. I’d return the wallet and cash in the ticket. I’d just have to hope my conscience didn’t drive me crazy. Maybe I’d send the guy an anonymous gift of a large chunk of money or something. I dunno. It’s actually a pretty hard one to answer in the hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/74 "2011-01-28T19:55:56Z")
For me, the high value has the opposite effect. I found a lottery ticket that had already won £10 quite recently - it was a ‘lucky dip’ ticket (where the machine that printed it picked pseudo-random numbers) - there was effectively no way to trace the owner. I kept the £10 - I figured the person who lost the ticket would already have written it off and probably had no way to know they had won. But in the situation the OP describes, it’s a large amount, and the owner is known - that would make me feel I had an obligation. I don’t believe the large amount of cash would corrupt my ethics, it would crystallise them, instead. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/75 "2011-01-28T19:59:36Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > The fact the we have less than fifty people posted to this thread as of yet and already a handful have said they would give it back is just bull shit. I’m sorry, but it is. Bullshit right back atcha. And unless you can prove otherwise, stop suggesting that I am lying. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/76 "2011-01-28T20:03:28Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > For me, the high value has the opposite effect. I found a lottery ticket that had already won £10 quite recently - it was a ‘lucky dip’ ticket (where the machine that printed it picked pseudo-random numbers) - there was effectively no way to trace the owner. I kept the £10 - I figured the person who lost the ticket would already have written it off and probably had no way to know they had won. > > But in the situation the OP describes, it’s a large amount, and the owner is known - that would make me feel I had an obligation. I don’t believe the large amount of cash would corrupt my ethics, it would crystallise them, instead. Would you have any hesitation to cash in the ticket if the ID were misisng? > [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Bullshit right back atcha. And unless you can prove otherwise, stop suggesting that I am lying. This. Even though I wrote that I would probably cash in the ticket, I’m not sure. I’d feel incredibly guilty, and that might enough to tip me over. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/77 "2011-01-28T20:28:31Z")
I was being facetious in my last answer. I’d find the recipient of the wallet and give him back his wallet AND his ticket. I wouldn’t tell anyone to spare myself having to hear how stupid I was for the rest of my life from all my friends and family. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/78 "2011-01-28T20:36:53Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I wouldn’t tell anyone to spare myself having to hear how stupid I was for the rest of my life from all my friends and family. Unless the winner actually split the money with you, I assume. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/79 "2011-01-28T20:41:08Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I was being facetious in my last answer. I’d find the recipient of the wallet and give him back his wallet AND his ticket. I wouldn’t tell anyone to spare myself having to hear how stupid I was for the rest of my life from all my friends and family. I wouldn’t call you stupid for doing so. Guilt is heavy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229/80 "2011-01-28T20:46:27Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Would you have any hesitation to cash in the ticket if the ID were misisng? For me, that would be where the question becomes a little more interesting. I think in that case I may just cash it. How do I have any way of determining whose ticket it is? Maybe it’s not ethically sound, but I know personally I would not have the same guilt that would tip me over as if I had found a wallet with an ID and pictures of the family in it. That’d be something I’d have to mull over a little more–I don’t have an immediate answer to that, like I do with the OP scenario. But I _think_, in that case, there’s a chance I would just keep it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-winning-lottery-ticket-along-with-a-strangers-id-what-are-you-most-likely-to-do/569229.md?page=5)