If you found a lost wallet/phone/watch, would you try to return unless there was no way to?

[Marc_LFD]

That would be the sensible thing to do and many years ago I found someone's debit card so I just returned it to the bank itself. If it had been someone else, he/she may have tried to make purchases with it.

What about ya'll?

 

[Alexander1970]

Wallet - Of course,hopefully there is an Adress or something in it.
Other wise - If it is near my Living Place,I will ask the Neighbors,if it is in my Home Village,to the Local Authority,otherwise to the next Police Station.

Phone - Hopefully it is "open" so maybe can call/inform some of the Contacts.
Other wise - If it is near my Living Place,I will ask the Neighbors,if it is in my Home Village,to the Local Authority,otherwise to the next Police Station.

Watch - Honestly,never found such Thing.
If it is near my Living Place,I will ask the Neighbors,if it is in my Home Village,to the Local Authority,otherwise to the next Police Station.


Never ever will keep one of these Things.




....why was the Question not about lost MONEY...?

 

[godreborn]

I found @Flame 's wallet once, outside a gay bar. I gave it back to him in exchange for sexual favors

 

[Marc_LFD]

....why was the Question not about lost MONEY...?

Good point.

I use a phone where I store all my 2FAs and etc, but I never take it on the go as what I have stored in it is far more valuable than the phone itself. So, I use a secondary phone without any of that. If I were to lose that phone, I wouldn't care about it so much as the data itself.

However, the majority use one phone for everything so I wonder how they'd feel if they lost or worse -- It was stolen from them. If it were at least locked it may not be accessible, but if unlocked.. yikes.

 

[Scarlet]

I returned a phone I found in the middle of the road once. It was a fun detective game that resulted in a very nice card and a bottle of wine.

 

[VinsCool]

Of course yes.
However, if I end with no one who could be identified as the owner, I might just keep it...
And that would be at the very last, otherwise I would take all the necessary measures to find who may have dropped it, and give it back.

 

[M7L7NK7]

Phones are pretty easy, someone will call it looking for it eventually

 

[KleinesSinchen]

What kind of question is this? "Are you an honest person?" or what?
I've found a wallet once and gave it back as soon as possible. Wouldn't think of anything else. The guy forced me to keep 20€ happy to see his ID, bus ticket, drivers license, credit card… again.

Phones are pretty easy, someone will call it looking for it eventually

Only if found on time. Many people have a ton of background services running on their phone that will drain the battery fast. SIM card will be locked after low battery in most cases.
Because I'm clumsy but careful person, I've included my address and an alternative phone number on a piece of paper in the flip cover of my phone in addition to showing this data on lock screen.

If it were at least locked it may not be accessible, but if unlocked.. yikes.

You'd have to exploit an average phone. I've heard there are ways to gain access to locked devices via USB with shady tools. Any normal try to unlock it (with decent password used) will fail and any attempt to reset it will erase data (and probably trigger the FRP garbage making it a hassle to make the phone usable again). Instead of relying on the so-called security of smartphones you're better of encrypting the data with a good passphrase. This will severely reduce the risk that somebody will be able to abuse the data like 2FA.
That said, you could get into my phone using the installed TWRP without any password… but be disappointed to find not a single piece of personal information beyond my name+adress+alternative phone number – not even a contact list.

 

[Kioku]

Wallet and phone? Yeah. It's easy. Watch? That'll be more difficult. I'd post in local groups, but I wouldn't stress myself unless I knew it was a more expensive piece.

 

[Olmectron]

Japan has a very good Lost and Found system put in place with local police.

https://www.japanlivingguide.net/dailylife/life/lost-and-found/

Sad that in most other countries a Wallet is as good as lost once you lost it from sight.

 

[M7L7NK7]

Only if found on time. Many people have a ton of background services running on their phone that will drain the battery fast. SIM card will be locked after low battery in most cases.
Because I'm clumsy but careful person, I've included my address and an alternative phone number on a piece of paper in the flip cover of my phone in addition to showing this data on lock screen.

Never heard of a SIM card locking, had plenty of phones handed in at work and if they died just recharged them

 

[Olmectron]

Never heard of a SIM card locking, had plenty of phones handed in at work and if they died just recharged them

I guess this is an Apple only thing.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250499538
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3403829

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Never heard of a SIM card locking, had plenty of phones handed in at work and if they died just recharged them

Maybe I phrased that poorly… but: What? All SIM I've seen since the 1990s demanded a PIN by default after the phone has been turned off. No PIN → no connection to mobile network. Pretty hard for the owner to call their own number after the battery is drained.

I guess this is an Apple only thing.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250499538
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3403829

Apple? What does this have to do with Apple? Never had a device from that company.

 

[Olmectron]

Maybe I phrased that poorly… but: What? All SIM I've seen since the 1990s demanded a PIN by default after the phone has been turned off. No PIN → no connection to mobile network. Pretty hard for the owner to call their own number after the battery is drained.

Apple? What does this have to do with Apple? Never had a device from that company.

Never in my old life have I seen an old cellphone or modern cellphone require a PIN after the phone has been turned off.

Maybe it was only mandatory in some countries?

Only phones where SIM cards I've seen locked because of low battery/phone turning off are Apple's.

 

[Chary]

Once, my dad found an entire purse on the sidewalk. He sat with it for about 30 minutes waiting for an owner to come by and reclaim it.

When no one showed up, he brought it home to go through it. He was looking to A. see if there was a lot of cash to keep, and B. look for a way to return it because he has a conscience.

He couldn't find a way to figure out who the purse belonged to, until my mom pulled the person's ID out of the purse and told my dad he's kind of dense. Ended up driving halfway across the city to return it. The person wasn't even that happy to get their wallet and stuff back. I think my dad wanted a reward or even a thank you at least. Lol

 

[DBlaze]

I once did find a wallet, and the person who it belonged to was anything but grateful, made me wait hours and after that was still snarky
I would still do it again but jesus christ

 

[Takokeshi]

Never in my old life have I seen an old cellphone or modern cellphone require a PIN after the phone has been turned off.

Maybe it was only mandatory in some countries?

Only phones where SIM cards I've seen locked because of low battery/phone turning off are Apple's.

Where I'm from sim cards have a default lock PIN on them (depends on the provider what the default PIN is), but enabling that functionality is optional and you need to know the default pin before you can set your own.

 

[Alexander1970]

Never heard of a SIM card locking, had plenty of phones handed in at work and if they died just recharged them

Never in my old life have I seen an old cellphone or modern cellphone require a PIN after the phone has been turned off.

Maybe it was only mandatory in some countries?

Only phones where SIM cards I've seen locked because of low battery/phone turning off are Apple's.

Yes,also in Austria we had this SIMLock / Netlock Thing.
I also can understand your "Astonishment" because in most other Countries this is forbidden !!
I do not remember exactly how long we have this,it affects mostly Prepaid Cards but in the Beginning,Contract Phones was the most.

I do not remember,when this ends,I think it was after 2010.
A Court Proceedings with the Provider YESS then allowed unlocking without penalty.

 

[Marc_LFD]

He couldn't find a way to figure out who the purse belonged to, until my mom pulled the person's ID out of the purse and told my dad he's kind of dense. Ended up driving halfway across the city to return it. The person wasn't even that happy to get their wallet and stuff back. I think my dad wanted a reward or even a thank you at least. Lol

Seems she was hoping to get her stuff robbed for some reason. Weird.

In that case, I'd just hand it over to the cops and let them handle it.

 

[Space_Goddess_Samus_Aran]

actually you can disable the sim pin prompt on most phones (on the settings). like i did with mine.