UK teen buys PS2 on eBay, receives box stuffed with �44,000

A young man in the UK got a serious shock when the PS2 that he'd won on eBay arrived at his home in Aylsham, Norfolk. The game system -- which he'd paid £95 for -- arrived without the two games promised by the seller, but with £44,000, or about $90,378. The boy and his family turned the money over to police, who are holding it until late September under the UK's "Proceeds of Crime Act" while they investigate the case. A spokesman for eBay described the situation as "somewhat unusual," while the boy was overheard mumbling that he "Would have rather gotten Gran Turismo 3." In related news, the cast of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels said that they would "Find that box no matter what kind of uniquely British hi-jinks are required."

[Thanks, Mark]

[Conor McCann @ Jul 18th 2007 3:12PM]

He was going to be robbed if he had have got a PS2 for £95!! I could get one for half that price.

[Alex Padilla @ Jul 18th 2007 3:13PM]

Definitely enjoyed the nod to the Guy Ritchie/Jason Statham films. Made the article worth reading, IMO.

[bob @ Jul 18th 2007 4:56PM]

an article about a boy finding £44,00 in a ps2 box isnt worth reading ?

[Ken Sheldon @ Jul 18th 2007 3:22PM]

Why would you turn down 90k?

/shakes head in disapointment

[John Doe @ Jul 18th 2007 10:18PM]

Because he's oh I don't know. What's that word I'm looking for? Oh yah...intelligent.

I'm sorry but you are a complete and total idiot if you think someone "accidentally" stuffed money into the PS2 box instead of the console. For all he knows it could be counterfeit. How lovely it would be if he went to deposit it in his bank only to get arrested.
Seriously only a moron would take the money and run with it.

[Brian @ Jul 18th 2007 3:15PM]

Wow, that's strange. How did someone forget their 90k USD? I want to hear the drug story behind this!

[pagercam @ Jul 18th 2007 3:17PM]

Did he leave positive or negative feedback for the seller???

[SteveMB @ Jul 18th 2007 5:52PM]

Or a neutral?

[Richie @ Jul 19th 2007 2:38AM]

Probably neg. It didn't have GT3 I mean come on!

[Electromodo @ Jul 18th 2007 3:20PM]

Wasn't it easier and fair just to send the email to the seller on eBay and say "You've sent me $90K instead of PS2, do you want your money back?"

And leave the seller a negative feedback on eBay :)))))

[madcrabs @ Jul 18th 2007 3:23PM]

I think that if I'd found that amount of money, I would have just gone on a shopping spree. Wtf at turning it in?

[ScOObyDoo @ Jul 18th 2007 3:28PM]

Fairly big chance that the money wasn't from legitimate business revenue... I'd hate to have someone come knocking on my door at midnight asking for their cash back while waving a baseball bat staring in at all the shopping bags full of crap I just got with their money.

OTOH; I wouldn't have called the cops either...

[nxs @ Jul 18th 2007 3:34PM]

Duh! he was supposed to "return it" with $90k worth of LSD that his mother doesn't know he's been making in his chemlab. (she just happened to discover the money before he could reinvest it in better equipment and "materials")

[Dustin Rochford @ Jul 18th 2007 3:31PM]

LOL. No matter where you go people are the same kind of stupid. I wonder how long it took the parents to realize the big mistake they had made by not keeping the money? Or even better yet, if the money even made it past the cops pockets on the way downtown.lol. Call me cynical, but some matters are much better NOT left to the police.

[movies4axe @ Jul 18th 2007 4:06PM]

Now, I'm not a criminal-genius so I'll ask you geniuses here...

If you were to receive a large amount of money through the mail, what would you do with it?

You could go on a spending spree, but wouldn't you raise-some-eyebrows with that new Ferrari in the driveway? Plus, if you even make it to the dealership, do you pay cash - I would imagine red-flags would pop up at various point of the transaction.

Do you declare it as a gift and put it in an interest-bearing savings account? U.S. government will still want taxes paid on this.

Lets not forget, this box was mailed to a home address. Whoever mailed it, knows where it went. To them, it might be worth a round-trip ticket and a personal visit to reclaim 90k.

I, for one, think involving the authorities was the correct decision. In hindsight, I would have preferred to keep my name and hometown withheld - to prevent any form of "collection".

What good is 90K if you have to blow 89.99K on security? (yeah, 10 bucks...)

Thanks.

[Grant @ Jul 18th 2007 3:28PM]

he should have at least went and bought the two games he was owed, i figure thats what the seller intended, and then a little extra for his time and inconvience.

i wonder what crime "giving away money" falls under...

[tjg05 @ Jul 19th 2007 5:47AM]

Tax fraud

[locknroll @ Jul 18th 2007 3:54PM]

Why does this never happen to me?

[wer @ Jul 18th 2007 4:53PM]

What really strikes me weird here is the picture of the PS2 above with all of the Euro signage over it.

Last I checked, the Euro and the Pound were completely different.

[ssuk @ Jul 18th 2007 5:11PM]

the box of money was actually Euros, even though the person who recieved it was in mainland England. Most likely the money came from The Republic of Ireland, where they use the Euro. (Same plugs for both countries, making it viable that the PS2 remained from inside the UK, as mainland-European plugs are different.)

[charlie @ Jul 18th 2007 6:01PM]

Lasty time I checked that is the symbol for a pound, not the euro.

[wer @ Jul 19th 2007 12:42AM]

Yeah, they changed it at some point from the Euro to the Pound sign. Way to change the picture Engadget.

[Carlin @ Jul 18th 2007 4:00PM]

i wouldve bought the 2 games >.> with a few more extra

and turn the rest into the police

mayb.... }:-D

[Neil Christie @ Jul 18th 2007 4:03PM]

The box was stuffed with €65,400, not £44,000. While €65,400 is £44,000 today it probably won't be tomorrow or next week which is why sites should be cautious when using currency conversions like this.

[Kieran @ Jul 18th 2007 4:04PM]

Ummm can someone explain why there are euro signs all over that pic, shouldn't it be £?

[Ben @ Jul 18th 2007 4:41PM]

Because it was filled with Euro's, but seeing as it happened in England Engadget reported it with the value in GBP, which had been converted from euros.

[Craig @ Jul 18th 2007 4:06PM]

how much you wanna bet it was actually filled with £45,000?

[Arnie @ Jul 18th 2007 4:11PM]

to the people who are complaining why didn't keep the money.It's simple, if the money was illegal then the person who sent it will come looking for it and by that time if they had spent it they would be in trouble.

[fli @ Jul 18th 2007 4:17PM]

they gave it to the police !!!????!!!!

[Scott @ Jul 18th 2007 4:26PM]

I will happily sell this young man MY copy of Gran Turismo 3 for the low low price of $10k USD.

:D

[Spanky @ Jul 18th 2007 5:19PM]

Giving to the cops was the best thing they could have done. I don't know what the regulations are in the UK but here in the states, you can turn the money in and if no one comes to claim it in 60 days, the money is returned to those who turned it in to keep. Sure they would have to pay taxes on it, but getting 45K free after taxes is better than a sharp stick in the eye!

[everrette powell @ Jul 19th 2007 12:09PM]

since he is a kid under 18 wouldn't he have gotten it all back by april 15th, when i was under 18 and they gov took taxes from me the following year when i claimed for my taxes i got it all back, none was taking out. that's if it was here in the states of course

[Spanky @ Jul 19th 2007 12:24PM]

getting it all back is up to a limit on the amount received.. I think it is somewhere around 3-4K. After that then some is lost to the IRS.

[paloooz @ Jul 18th 2007 4:34PM]

What? I'd have stuck it in an ING account. That'd earn what? Like $4000 a month in interest.

That can't be right ... If that's true, I could stick $90,000 in an ING account and live on the interest ...

Hmm ...

[paloooz @ Jul 18th 2007 4:34PM]

Or is it annual interest? Meh, either way, point being - I'd take the money and run.

[johnzilla @ Jul 18th 2007 7:44PM]

$1,000,000 dollars at 5% interest compounded monthly gets you roughly $50,000 a year.

Assuming the amount in the article converts to about $100,000, the kid would end up with about $400 in interest (at 5%) after 1 month. After a year, he'd have around $105,000 total.

[Fenway Beer Man @ Jul 19th 2007 4:15AM]

at the current ING rate, you're talking about $4,200 per year in interest, or $350 per month.

[Neebs @ Jul 18th 2007 4:37PM]

AAAAA++++ would buy from again!

[bob @ Jul 18th 2007 4:56PM]

lol

[acjunglist702 @ Jul 18th 2007 5:37PM]

Damn, that made me laugh out loud...

[SOLANGE @ Jul 18th 2007 6:04PM]

DOOOOOO POOR STUPID KID INSTEAD OF TAKING THAT MONEY AND MOVED TO ANOTHER TOWN OR COUNTRY GAVE IT TO THE POLICE, NOW THEY ARE HAVING A PARTY WITH THAT MONEY. POOR LITTLE THING

[error2k2 @ Jul 18th 2007 5:09PM]

while the boy was overheard mumbling that he "Would have rather gotten Gran Turismo 3."

What a dumbass, reminds me of Homer Simpson-
Homer: Aw, twenty dollars! I wanted a peanut!
Homer's Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer's Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo-hoo!

[suntiger @ Jul 18th 2007 10:31PM]

That was a joke on the part of the Engadget writers. RFTAPLZTHXBYE.

[suntiger @ Jul 18th 2007 10:32PM]

Err, I mean, RTFPLZTHXBYE.

Fuck.

[suntiger @ Jul 18th 2007 10:33PM]

Oh damn it all, I meant RTFAPLZTHXBYE.

*growls*

[E71 @ Jul 18th 2007 4:53PM]

Ah limeys, what a bunch of weirdos.

[ssuk @ Jul 18th 2007 5:06PM]

Come on guys, this man who sent the money had £44,000 boxed in his house. That kind of thing isn't the usual thing that happens... You'd think that the guy who wrongly sent the money MAY be a bit of a psycho and someone doing something illegal. Hell, it could just be some weirdo who doesn't like banks... But, I think my gut feeling is that this money isn't something I'd want to keep a hold of incase some crazy-ass bastard comes knocking on my door with a weapon of some sort.

[whatsdamattau @ Jul 18th 2007 5:24PM]

I would bring it to the police. If nobody claims it after September (or whatever the grace period is) the money is theirs fair and square. So they made the right decision handing it over. Then again, that's if that law is the same in Europe as it is in the United States.

A similar incident happened years ago where some man found an incredible sum of money (I think it was close to a million dollars) and he handed it to the police. Nobody claimed the money 3 months later and the guy who found it donned a bullet proof vest, walked into the police station and walked out rich.

[LN @ Jul 18th 2007 6:29PM]

Hmmmm - the real question is, why is putting something on called "donning" :)

[DarkRyan @ Jul 18th 2007 6:40PM]

Because "donne" is the french word for "give"