Man uses online bank transfers to find lost wallet's owner

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bank transfers, wallet, lost wallet, credit cards, cash

London - The man lost his wallet while cycling back home from work.

By Web Report

Published: Thu 17 Oct 2019, 9:56 AM

Last updated: Thu 17 Oct 2019, 12:12 PM

Reuniting with a lost wallet with credit cards, cash, memberships, IDs and so much more intact and safe can surely be a blessing. That's what a London man experienced when he was grieving the loss of his wallet he dropped while cycling back home from work.
Tim Cameron, 30, thought he would never get his wallet back which had little information about him that could be used to trace him. But to his surprise, someone who had found his wallet, came up with an ingenious way to return it to him.
According to the Time, Cameron tried to search his wallet but in vain and decided to check his bank account for any strange activity. He was startled to see that someone had actually transferred made a series of bank transfers, all for just one penny, and each came with a word message which, when pieced together had a message for Cameron. The message read: 'Hi, I found your wallet in the road'. The Good Samaritan provided a phone number and ended with a request to call or text on it.

I just lost my wallet on the way home from work. I didn't have much identifying info in there so a good Samaritan got in touch with my via my... bank account ??

4x transfers of £0.01 each with a reference up to 18 chars pic.twitter.com/RVK8I1ZctQ
- Tim Cameron (@Timcammm) October 14, 2019

The man who found Cameron's wallet had come up with the scheme to send his name and phone number through bank deposit notes. Cameron shared a screenshot of the bank transfers on Twitter and explained that each of the "4x transfers of £0.01" allowed for "a reference up to 18 chars", which is how the helpful stranger, known only as Simon, conveyed his contact information, reported Time.
According to reports Metro, Cameron's lost wallet had been found by Simon Byford, 30, who was cycling on the same route. Byford first tried to look for Tim on Facebook but when he couldn't find him, he came up with the idea to make bank transfers. "When he got in touch I just felt surprise and delight. I was expecting him eventually but it all happened quite quickly," Byford was quoted as saying in Metro.
While Cameron said, "He's the nicest bloke ever - it's not surprising he went above and beyond to get it back to me." His tweet about the incident went viral with over 30,000 'retweets' and a ton of amazed comments.