I put a fake note with a phone number in my wallet and the guy who found it actually called me
So my wallet fell out of my bag on the L train near the Bedford Ave stop two Fridays ago. I had maybe $40 cash, my debit card, and my transit pass in there. Weeks before that I had read a tip about writing a fake emergency contact note to put inside your wallet. So I wrote one that said, 'If found, please call this number for a reward, no questions asked,' and I put my Google Voice number on it, not my real cell. I canceled my cards right away and figured the wallet was gone for good. Then last Tuesday a guy named Marcus called the Voice number and said he found it under a seat at the Lorimer stop. I met him at a bodega in Bushwick, gave him $20, and got everything back. Here is the thing though, I never would have gotten that call if my actual phone number or address had been sitting in there for anyone to grab. The note worked because it was just a burner number with nothing else attached. Has anyone else tried something like this, and did it actually pay off, or did it just end up in a scam?
Disagree with the idea that this is a solid plan. You got lucky because Marcus is a decent guy, but putting a note in your wallet that offers a reward is basically telling a stranger there is money waiting for them if they call. Some people will take the bait and then ask for way more than your wallet is worth, or they will fish for info when you meet up. A better move is to leave out the reward part and just put a plain "if found please call" with the burner number, since a real Good Samaritan does not need cash dangled in front of them. Also, if you never got the call, you would have lost the wallet anyway, so the note did not change much except add a small risk. Glad it worked out for you this time, but I would not count on that as a system.