Here's how to approach Good Samaritans (person, member, senior, house)

[artillery77]

I've had a couple of incidents lately that have stoked my ire. One was, in cleaning out the rosebushes, I came across a check for about $4600 that was signed from a trust fund for a vacation. There was a number on the check so I called it and was accused of stealing some old dude's mail.

I found a guy's wallet, there was no ID, but credit cards and cash, and called a third party to call the member and gave my number. Offered to drop it off at a third party lost/found, but he wants to meet, openly tells me he is skeptical even though all property is there. Wants my last name. Why do you need that? There's still cash in the wallet and f off if there hadn't been. Another old guy.

Dear old people of San Jose. Thieves aren't the ones contacting you to return your stuff. Think it through from a thief perspective. Why would they draw attention to themselves?

All you need to do is figure out a way I can get it back to you. It can be mailed to your work address. It can be dropped off at a public lost/found box. It can be mailed to a PO Box. If it's really convenient, and super public, maybe we can meet in a store, but I'd rather not.

That's all you get to know. You got your stuff back, and I feel better about having got you your stuff back. If you want a clue on solving something, you ask me nicely, and with the utmost confidence that i'm not the thief. If you're not sure. You don't ask. You start freaking out that I'm a thief, I get scared to be involved because you're dumb-@ss is going to do something stupid. If I don't offer to help you solve something...I don't want to be involved.

Receive your property. Say Thank You. Go away.

[Zeya]

You have to look at this from the mentality of an older person. They are very wary of scans. Think of people calling them on the phone or contacting them by email trying to get them to do something. And what you're doing so uncommon they think it's just another scam. It's really unfortunate and I feel bad for you. This falls under the umbrella of "no good deed goes unpunished."

[Charles22]

Since no one here has talked to you on the phone there's no way that we can know whether it was your phone demeanor that set them off.

[jw2]

Accentuating what Zeya said, I have strict orders with my mom to not trust anyone. I have impressed upon her that people lose their faculties as they age and even though something may make sense, be wary. Thankfully, she checks with me on everything. If someone called her and said they had her wallet or that they found a check in her name, she would check with me first. The elderly reach a point that they can't differentiate between "I found a check with your name on it and want to return it to you" and "if you give me a check for $1,000, I can give you a check for $5,000". The both make the same amount of sense. So, they have to be defensive of everything.

So,here is what I have to say to you, Dear young guy of San Jose, thank you for being kind enough to return the property to their owners. Please cut the elderly some slack, their brains aren't as sharp as yours.

[eureka1]

Next time just drop it at the police station. Problem solved.

[artillery77]

Some good ideas/perspectives. Do you think if I dropped off items at the police station it would make it back to them? That would be the easiest/safest I would imagine.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

If you called me with those items and didn't ask for a reward, I'd be hugely grateful and not skeptical at all. And I'm an older person.

[VTYankinME]

Originally Posted by artillery77

Some good ideas/perspectives. Do you think if I dropped off items at the police station it would make it back to them? That would be the easiest/safest I would imagine.

Yes. I have done that in the past. It's easy, the people probably feel less threatened, and it works. I know it works because people have called to thank me.

[Nell Plotts]

I think dropping it off at the nearest police station is the best approach.

[FC76-81]

Choice of words during the initial dialog also will have influence on how the conversation progresses. I found a chick's iphone and just waited for her to call it, which she did. When I answered and told her that I was the one who had her phone, initially she expressed happiness but then I responded by asking her "how do you want to get this back?". There was a long pause and then she asked cautiously "what do you mean?". I then explained if she wanted to meet somewhere or have me drop it off somewhere or whatever. She arranged to meet me at my office which was local. When she got there she picked it up and mentioned that what I said sort of threw her off cause she didn't know if I was going to hold it for some type of ransom or something. So got to be careful how you word the dialog I guess.

I also knew a hot chick who found some old mans wallet with a few hundred in it along with his driver's license and a bunch of social security documents. She contacted me and we both drove down to his house. She knocked on his door and when he answered, she just introduced herself and gave it to him. She recognized him from the picture on his drivers license. That guy was so happy cause he didn't have too much money cause of being a senior and all. That worked out really well. So maybe next time if they have a local address and if you feel safe doing it, just drop it off in person to them.