20K on the side of the road

[Jacob]

Perhaps.  But far more common occurrence is:

Have serious drug addiction.

Don't have any money for drugs.

Defraud the bank because although you know they'll catch you, it gets you drugs for that weekend, and that's more important right now.

For sure it's a common scam; I don't doubt it. But that's exactly why the other thing works so well; it fits so well with the standard narrative that authority figures - like yourself - readily dismiss it.

It happened to a friend of mine, and he's not a drug addict, and he did not need short term cash for anything. He is just your kind of guy actually, small business owner, fairly conservative, likes oil companies and also the wilderness.

In fact, it would make no sense for him to do it because the money that he got hit for, while significant, was much less than what he could have legitimately gotten if he'd gone to the bank and accessed his line of credit (which the bank shut down as a result, freezing all his other assets as well, and causing serious trouble for his business).

[lustindarkness]

I would return it, I know for a fact it is not mine, it would be stealing to keep it. Yeah, I would return it. Most of it at least.
Besides, with my luck there are hidden cameras and it would be some tv show trying to see if people are honest.

[mongers]

Is it breaking a law to keep it?

Serious question.

Over here, I think it's 'called' something like 'theft by finding'?

[Ideologue]

Keep it.  Hide it.  Like GF, use it for groceries and local entertainment, and possibly start making a deposit of $100 every month starting six months later, if feasible.

I think I'd probably be able to do money orders to pay rent, but I'd have to look into how often and how large amounts you can use without being assumed to be funnelling money to terrorists.

[Ideologue]

Then again, is $20k a large enough amount to call Saul?

[Camerus]

I'd turn it into the police or else just leave it there.

[Josquius]

Keep it.
The only concern is I'll be chased by the authorities/gangsters who lost it.

[KRonn]

Don't ever use those non-bank ATMs you find in shitty convenience stores or standing next to Cal in gas stations.  They're not subject to the same internal controls on privacy as banks are with the Bank Secrecy Act, and they are very popular with the Russian mob.

Good to know. There's one in a coffee shop/gas station I go to, and I used it a couple of times but never felt comfortable about it and decided not to use it again anyway.

[Iormlund]

Most commonly it's people using stolen bank cards.  Rarely there's a robbery or the like.

The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me. Who the hell doesn't know there are cameras at ATMs?

Stupid and/or desperate.

Another common ploy is for someone to use an ATM to "desposit", say, a $1000 cheque into their account, when in fact the envelope they put in the machine is empty.  I mean - it's their own account!  Of course they're going to get caught.  But people still do it...

I know of a woman who had been working at a bank for 30 years and was surely making over €50k (that's 4 times median salary). She used the card of a customer to draw 500 € from the ATM at her branch ...

[Pedrito]

If I spot a 100 SEK bill on the ground I don't turn it in. I don't pick it up either.

Heh. Just a couple days ago I found a 10€ bill on the ground.
Not only I picked it up, but it considerably lifted my morale for the day.

Am I: UNCLE SCROOGE?

L.