It’s not every day you find a thousand dollars in cash, especially in a bank machine.
But that’s exactly what happened to Annie Rawdah. The London real estate agent said she was at a drive-through ATM on Wonderland Road South on Sunday afternoon when she noticed cash sitting in the machine.
“At first I didn’t know how much it was,” said Rawdah. “I thought, I’ll just go inside and give it back to the bank. But it was closed, it was about 4:30 p.m.”
She said she didn’t want the next person in line to take it, so she withdrew her own money, kept the receipt for the timestamp, and left with the $1,000 to return it later.
“I knew I would need the time on my receipt to help the bank figure out who it belongs to. This way, they can easily identify the person.”
That night, Rawdah posted about the find on two local Facebook groups, hoping the owner might see it. While no one came forward immediately, she said the reaction online surprised her.
“Everybody was saying, ‘We can’t believe people like you still exist.’ I didn’t think it was a big deal, it’s just returning money that doesn’t belong to you. But apparently, people were really shocked.”
What would you do if you found $1,000?
Meanwhile, roofer Mohamad Allo was realizing that he’d pulled away from the ATM without the cash that he’d gone to get.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. When he went to the bank the next day, he was told to wait to see if someone returned the cash. He thought the chances were about 50/50.
$1,000 that was left behind in an ATM will be returned to the person who lost it. (Annie Rawdah/Facebook)
For Rawdah, the decision wasn’t just about doing the right thing, it was also a teachable moment for her three children.
“I showed them the $1,000 and asked what they would do if they found it. They didn’t know the answer,” said Rawdah. “I explained that if someone makes $20 an hour, that’s 50 hours of work to earn that much. Imagine losing that. I wanted them to see that even if no one’s watching, you should return what isn’t yours.”
On Monday morning, Rawdah returned to the bank with the cash and was told Allo had visited the bank shortly before she arrived.
“I came to the bank, and the lady said that 20 minutes ago, a person came asking for his $1,000 and asked them to investigate and check the cameras, and they told him there is nothing they can do unless the person who found it returns the money,” she said.
Rawdah handed in the cash and said the bank told her the money would be returned to him.
“If you find money that doesn’t belong to you and you can return it, please do,” she said. “You can’t build your own happiness on someone else’s pain.”
Allo was relieved, and grateful. He wanted to give Rawdah a gift, but she didn’t want anything in return.