“In 2020, a college student in New Mexico discovered $135,000 in cash near an ATM. Instead of keeping it, the student promptly turned the money over to local police, demonstrating honesty and integrity in the face of a life-changing find.
Authorities rewarded the student with a $500 check as a token of appreciation. The story quickly drew attention, highlighting the student’s ethical choice and sparking discussions about honesty, civic duty, and the challenges of handling unexpected windfalls in modern society.”
Boomtown626 on
The bag originally had over $250K in it.
LiplessHen456 on
Sounds like he got the short end of the stick but taking 500 bucks instead of being hunted down by the cartel is probably the smart move.
Zachisawinner on
The cops kept it and got a new smoothie machine for the department.
zwifter11 on
Isn’t $500 like 0.37%
HighwaySentinel on
Not only did they insult him with a low reward, but they used it as a way to advertise recruiting for their PD. This kid will not make that mistake again.
gordo323 on
His dad with that look on his face “wait till we get home”
RMST1912 on
What a sucker.
Master_Canary440 on
Why does it look like his mom is crying lmao
Gentlemanvaultboy on
You don’t just find that amount of money lying around for no reason. It belongs to somebody, and unless he had a way to launder it the smarter move is to turn it in. Better $500 bucks than prison or ending up in a shallow grave.
thisistheplaceof on
500? Lmao
frank1934 on
Why the hell was it by an ATM? Because you definitely can’t take out $135k from an atm
Everyone calling him a dumbass, do you not realize that today there are cameras everywhere. There would have been an investigation and they would have got him on a camera and then instead of a reward he would have gotten arrested for grand theft.
CitizenHuman on
And that $500 went on to pay for part of one college textbook.
patriotpotato on
Great advertisement to NOT hand in big bags of money
DarkPaxGaming on
I think 25000 would be more fair….
TRB4 on
To put this in perspective for non six figure earners, imagine turning in $135 and they give you a 50¢ reward.
PhantaZm- on
Dad is absolutely pissed lmao.
SimulatedKnave on
It was the bag that was supposed to be used to refill the machine. So it was Wells Fargo’s money. Or possibly the subcontractor who refilled the machines.
Now Wells Fargo IS terminally disorganized, so they might not have been able to figure out who took it when they looked at their security cameras. But they might have, and a grand theft charge is awkward. Turning it in probably the smart move.
MutinybyMuses on
Bro for sure saw No Country For Old Men
FadedVictor on
This story is a good way to deter people from “doing the right thing” in the future.
moaiii on
Smart kid. The bag was probably accidentally left by staff refilling the ATM with cash (there is no other sensible reason I can think of). If the kid took it, the discrepancy would have been discovered eventually, CCTV footage reviewed, then he would have been tracked down.
ThunkEnuff on
So, not a math major then?
BlueBifurcation on
A noble idiot.
LebronBackinCLE on
I’ve always planned on finding a bag of cash. lol And that shit ain’t going to the po-lice, I’ll tell ya that much
bigdgrizzly on
The sub contractor for wells fargo left the bag. He did the legal thing. If he took it he would be wanted by the cops for theft.
Bruisedmilk on
I mean he could have gotten in-trouble for taking the $135k and gotten no money in the end plus legal trouble.
radio-morioh-cho on
Its a free 500 without constantly worrying about being arrested or “dealt with”. Easy win
noproblem_bro_ on
In all fairness not returning a suspicious large sum of cash of unknown origins within proximity of a bank equipment most likely under 24/7 surveillance is less risky.
Gogobrasil8 on
I mean, you don’t return lost stuff because you’re thinking of the reward. You do it because it’s the right thing to do.
That could be someone’s entire life savings they lost. Or a down payment for a house or something.
If you look at this and think they were losers for not stealing it, that’s sad
thedillymane on
Fool of a took
royalmarine on
With a name like that, I’m sure ICE will want to question him on this report from 2020 and he’ll end up deported for some stupid made up racist motivated reason.
juniperjibletts on
monsterbator89 on
You can bet your ass that if the chaos of the universe plopped $135k in my lap, the last people I’m handing it over to is the police.
jackrabbit323 on
There would be no Reddit post about me turning in money five years later.
Klangaxx on
I’m assuming it was by an ATM because the banker or whoever forgot to load it into the money truck. And those bags usually have tamper seals that explode blue ink everywhere, ruining the money. So he probably saw the money, realized he can’t do much, and returned it hoping for a bigger reward. But I’m sure the cops are smart enough to open those bags, and everyone had a nice bonus that week.
godzillaburger on
i once found about 1500 dollars in loose bills, scattered all over the street in a very calm neighborhood with little traffic. I got out of my car and picked it all up, stuffing it all into my pockets. thats the most money i’ve ever just found, in fact at that moment, that was the most money I’ve ever seen together like that, be it found or earned or whatever. I got back into my car and instead of continuing forward on the way home, I did a u-turn back to my friends house about 4 houses down. I got inside with them and we were gushing about the find and how we were rich and making plans to start a small business. then the bell rings, at the door a woman – about 40 maybe 50 at most – she was very serious (understandibly – her son had dropped that money) I saw one of you picking up paper on the floor from my window she stated, was it money? do you have my money?? I thought, this might be a lie, so I asked, what is the amount of money and she told me exactly how much it was and explained her son was supposed to go make a payment but left the money on the roof of the car and drove off. I handed her the money, reluctantly (she was rich and I am not), but it was the right thing to do. she counted it and did a 180 and left. no thank you, no reward. I went from cloud 9 to cloud -2
43 Comments
“In 2020, a college student in New Mexico discovered $135,000 in cash near an ATM. Instead of keeping it, the student promptly turned the money over to local police, demonstrating honesty and integrity in the face of a life-changing find.
Authorities rewarded the student with a $500 check as a token of appreciation. The story quickly drew attention, highlighting the student’s ethical choice and sparking discussions about honesty, civic duty, and the challenges of handling unexpected windfalls in modern society.”
The bag originally had over $250K in it.
Sounds like he got the short end of the stick but taking 500 bucks instead of being hunted down by the cartel is probably the smart move.
The cops kept it and got a new smoothie machine for the department.
Isn’t $500 like 0.37%
Not only did they insult him with a low reward, but they used it as a way to advertise recruiting for their PD. This kid will not make that mistake again.
His dad with that look on his face “wait till we get home”
What a sucker.
Why does it look like his mom is crying lmao
You don’t just find that amount of money lying around for no reason. It belongs to somebody, and unless he had a way to launder it the smarter move is to turn it in. Better $500 bucks than prison or ending up in a shallow grave.
500? Lmao
Why the hell was it by an ATM? Because you definitely can’t take out $135k from an atm
It’s called being honest.
this giant check costs $450.
https://preview.redd.it/ygzoha191a2g1.jpeg?width=688&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19d20a0abbb54738206a51f7e88962a688038f46
Pain
Everyone calling him a dumbass, do you not realize that today there are cameras everywhere. There would have been an investigation and they would have got him on a camera and then instead of a reward he would have gotten arrested for grand theft.
And that $500 went on to pay for part of one college textbook.
Great advertisement to NOT hand in big bags of money
I think 25000 would be more fair….
To put this in perspective for non six figure earners, imagine turning in $135 and they give you a 50¢ reward.
Dad is absolutely pissed lmao.
It was the bag that was supposed to be used to refill the machine. So it was Wells Fargo’s money. Or possibly the subcontractor who refilled the machines.
Now Wells Fargo IS terminally disorganized, so they might not have been able to figure out who took it when they looked at their security cameras. But they might have, and a grand theft charge is awkward. Turning it in probably the smart move.
Bro for sure saw No Country For Old Men
This story is a good way to deter people from “doing the right thing” in the future.
Smart kid. The bag was probably accidentally left by staff refilling the ATM with cash (there is no other sensible reason I can think of). If the kid took it, the discrepancy would have been discovered eventually, CCTV footage reviewed, then he would have been tracked down.
So, not a math major then?
A noble idiot.
I’ve always planned on finding a bag of cash. lol And that shit ain’t going to the po-lice, I’ll tell ya that much
The sub contractor for wells fargo left the bag. He did the legal thing. If he took it he would be wanted by the cops for theft.
I mean he could have gotten in-trouble for taking the $135k and gotten no money in the end plus legal trouble.
Its a free 500 without constantly worrying about being arrested or “dealt with”. Easy win
In all fairness not returning a suspicious large sum of cash of unknown origins within proximity of a bank equipment most likely under 24/7 surveillance is less risky.
I mean, you don’t return lost stuff because you’re thinking of the reward. You do it because it’s the right thing to do.
That could be someone’s entire life savings they lost. Or a down payment for a house or something.
If you look at this and think they were losers for not stealing it, that’s sad
Fool of a took
With a name like that, I’m sure ICE will want to question him on this report from 2020 and he’ll end up deported for some stupid made up racist motivated reason.
You can bet your ass that if the chaos of the universe plopped $135k in my lap, the last people I’m handing it over to is the police.
There would be no Reddit post about me turning in money five years later.
I’m assuming it was by an ATM because the banker or whoever forgot to load it into the money truck. And those bags usually have tamper seals that explode blue ink everywhere, ruining the money. So he probably saw the money, realized he can’t do much, and returned it hoping for a bigger reward. But I’m sure the cops are smart enough to open those bags, and everyone had a nice bonus that week.
i once found about 1500 dollars in loose bills, scattered all over the street in a very calm neighborhood with little traffic. I got out of my car and picked it all up, stuffing it all into my pockets. thats the most money i’ve ever just found, in fact at that moment, that was the most money I’ve ever seen together like that, be it found or earned or whatever. I got back into my car and instead of continuing forward on the way home, I did a u-turn back to my friends house about 4 houses down. I got inside with them and we were gushing about the find and how we were rich and making plans to start a small business. then the bell rings, at the door a woman – about 40 maybe 50 at most – she was very serious (understandibly – her son had dropped that money) I saw one of you picking up paper on the floor from my window she stated, was it money? do you have my money?? I thought, this might be a lie, so I asked, what is the amount of money and she told me exactly how much it was and explained her son was supposed to go make a payment but left the money on the roof of the car and drove off. I handed her the money, reluctantly (she was rich and I am not), but it was the right thing to do. she counted it and did a 180 and left. no thank you, no reward. I went from cloud 9 to cloud -2
That big check probably cost $400 😂
No good deed goes unpunished
$500?! Not enough