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'Who Wants Free Money?'

Jerry_B

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Messages
8,019
Town chaos as cash thrown in air

People in Aberystwyth had an unexpected windfall when a man showered what is thought to be thousands of pounds into the air at a pedestrian crossing.
The man was heard to shout: "Who wants free money?" seconds before hurling the cash into the air in Alexandra Road.

The incident caused chaos as drivers and pedestrians, some on their hands and knees, picked up the money.

Dyfed-Powys Police said a 40-year-old man was later arrested for driving offences in nearby Aberaeron.

John Morris saw what happened from outside his shop in nearby Terrace Road on Monday at about 1100 BST.

He also caught the act on his CCTV system which scans the area near the town's railway station.

"I just couldn't believe my eyes," said Mr Morris. "All the money was in £20 notes and I've heard rumours that the man threw about £20,000 away.

"People were shocked and just couldn't believe it.

"It was like something out of the the movies. It caused bedlam - people were on their hands and knees eagerly picking the money up.

"I heard that one person picked up about £800, and another banked about £150 this morning so it wasn't fake money."

Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed a man from Aberystwyth had thrown a sum of money in the air in Alexandra Road before driving away.

The police added that some of the cash had been retrieved, and said that a man was later arrested in Aberaeron for driving offences.

Source
 
I hope it is true...and I hope it was someone stopping their ex-spouse from getting money they didn't deserve (note: am feeling bitter today :evil: )
 
From that article I found another about the police's attempts to get people to hand the money in, in case it was illicitly obtained. Now I think, if it's stolen money, fair enough, hand it in, but not until they know where it came from. You might not get it back if they find out it was that bloke's own money!
 
GadaffiDuck said:
I hope it is true...and I hope it was someone stopping their ex-spouse from getting money they didn't deserve (note: am feeling bitter today :evil: )

Well, Gaddaffi, you'd be sure to appreciate Toscana Leather in Edinburgh, who some years back replaced the usual permanent "closing down" sale that leather shops often claim (same with Bookworlds) with a series of sales beginning "Mr Toscana is getting divorced! Hurry! All stock must go at a loss!". They ended, I think, with one to pay for his second marraige...
 
Lorry Driver Rains Cash On Crowd

Lorry driver rains cash on crowd

A German lorry driver has thrown away tens of thousands of euros after winning a radio competition by promising to do precisely that.


Marko Hilgert pledged to give away three-quarters of the 100,000 euros (£65,800; $129,000) prize money.

He was as good as his word and threw notes onto the town square of Kaiserslautern, in western Germany, as he was suspended above it in a crane.

Some 3,000 people scrambled to collect the notes as they rained down.

Mr Hilgert kept the rest of the prize money to pay off part of his mortgage.

"If I threw three quarters of it out of the window, I would obviously still profit," he said.

"But the people also profit from this, and that's what people realised when they voted for me as the winner of the competition."

Story from BBC NEWS:

Published: 2007/01/27 09:31:19 GMT

© BBC MMVII
 
I've thought about these events before, I think that's what I'd do if I won the lottery. :)
 
The whole point of having money is to have fun with it, isnt it?

I think that would be fun.
 
ATM Gives Out Too Much Money

Jul 28, 9:15 AM EDT

ATM gives out too much money

MANSFIELD, La. (AP) -- An ATM at a northwest Louisiana truck stop gave out $20 bills instead of $5s, but authorities say they know who took the extra $7,000 the machine spit out and plan to track them down.


DeSoto Parish sheriff's Lt. Toni Morris said the automated teller machine has records showing 26 people who received the extra cash during five days in late June and early July.

Annette Parker, a supervisor at Eagle's Truck Stop, said she unplugged the machine after overhearing conversations about the excess payments.

"The next morning when we had come back in, someone had plugged it back up," she said.

Morris said someone who did not work at the truck stop may have rigged the machine, which keeps records of when the money was taken and by whom.

Morris said charges could be brought against the people who got more money than they were debited for.

Copyright 2006 The Orange County Register
 
I would love to find a cash machine that gave out $20s instead of $5s but, truth be told, I'd probably turn it back in. Yes, I'm THAT st00pid. :roll:
 
volfie said:
Yes, I'm THAT st00pid. :roll:
Sometimes it pays...

Last Friday I found a fiver in the corner of the pub. I asked the barman who'd been sitting there, but he thought no-one, for quite a while. But I handed over the fiver I found anyway....

...but as nobody claimed it, today I was given it back! :D
 
A couple of years back my daughter was given $50 notes instead of $20's at an ATM. She went into the bank to report it and give back the overpayment. They said the people not doing so would have be tracked down and she was thanked, later receiving a couple of movie tickets in the mail.
 
As I understand it, you have to offer the money back. If they refuse reasonable efforts to pay it back, then you're entitled to keep it. If, however, you notice the error, and don't report it, you can be found guilty of fraud or theft or something. It would have to be a lot of money in order to actually do time.
 
Boulters_Canary said:
Back in 1976, folk-rock band Steeleye Span gave away around nine grand during a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon........

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.kellett/8grand1.htm

The K Foundation (KLF) burn a million quid...

On 23 August 1994, the K Foundation (Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty) burnt one million pounds sterling in cash on the Scottish island of Jura. This money represented the bulk of the K Foundation's funds, earned by Drummond and Cauty as The KLF, one of the United Kingdom's most successful pop groups of the early 1990s. The duo have never fully explained their motivations for the burning.

The incineration was recorded on a Hi-8 video camera by K Foundation collaborator Gimpo. In August 1995, the film—Watch the K Foundation Burn a Million Quid[1]—was toured around the British Isles, with Drummond and Cauty engaging each audience in debate about the burning and its meaning. In November 1995, the duo pledged to dissolve the K Foundation and to refrain from public discussion of the burning for a period of 23 years.

A book—K Foundation Burn A Million Quid, edited and compiled by collaborator Chris Brook —was published by ellipsis Books in 1997, compiling stills from the film, accounts of events and viewer reactions. The book also contains an image of a single house brick that was manufactured from the fire's ashes.

Wikiperia Link

Video - the beginning of part 3 shows the burning...

YouTube Part 1
YouTube Part 2
YouTube Part 3
YouTube Part 4
YouTube Part 5
 
In November 1995, the duo pledged to dissolve the K Foundation and to refrain from public discussion of the burning for a period of 23 years.
23? 23! :shock: :shock: :shock:

Arrghhh! This must mean....



No, my lips are sealed...

Or my keyboard is locked....



Whatever... :roll:
 
The KLF would have deliberately chosen the number 23, being, as they are, the KLF.
 
It does make you wonder how much money they made from the film, book, TV rights and public appearences. And surely the resulting brick made from the ashes must be worth something as a work of art?
The whole stunt may well have been a good investment.
 
Hundreds queue up to cash in as ATM machine pays out DOUBLE
By James Tozer
Last updated at 7:29 PM on 16th January 2009

In the gloomy days of credit crunch Britain, it was a stroke of luck no one was going to turn down.
When a cash machine began issuing customers with double the amount they had requested, the word spread like wildfire.
Within minutes, the first visitors had phoned their friends and family to tell them of the unexpected bonus.

Soon a queue had formed outside the Nationwide ATM at a BP petrol station in Stretford, Greater Manchester.
As the glitch had not occurred at a branch, it was not spotted for six hours. By then, as much as £10,000 extra had been taken out.
Withdrawals for £30 seemed to have the most success - issuing customers with £60 instead. But some said they had doubled other amounts too.

Shan Cliff, 21, said: 'Most people have taken out hundreds of pounds. No one's going to turn down free money. I don't know whether it will show in our accounts but it's their mistake not ours.'
A 33-year-old man who pocketed an extra £150 said: 'My friend texted me about 2pm. I couldn't believe it. You had to wait a while because people were putting their cards in five and six times.

''The banks have had enough off us so it's good to get a little back.'

But the Nationwide Building Society failed to see the justice. The ATM had been incorrectly filled, it said.
'Some people used the machine to take out money which wasn't rightly theirs, which is very disappointing. It's also disappointing no one informed us there was a fault for such a long time.' :cry:

Customers could be ordered to pay it back but as the withdrawals will have been spread around several banks, that prospect is thought to be unlikely.
Nationwide may demand that the contractor blamed for wrongly filling the machine foots the bill instead.


This week outside Sainsbury's supermarket in Welshpool, Mid Wales, shoppers queued late into the night, some in their pyjamas, to take advantage of another cash machine issuing double the funds requested.
Sainsbury's Bank said: 'The customers have clearly experienced a little New Year luck. We will not be looking to recoup the cash.' 8)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... OUBLE.html
 
And again...

Every Little Helps: Tesco cash machine pays customers DOUBLE after 'operational error'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:57 PM on 18th August 2009

Scores of shoppers hit the jackpot when a Tesco cash machine began paying double the amount requested.
Thousands of pounds in £10 and £20 notes were dished out for free when a computer glitch played havoc with an ATM at one of the supermarket's stores.

It provided the ultimate 'two for one' offer but perhaps not the kind of bargain Tesco had in mind to help lure in custom at the store in Hounslow, West London.

Instead of tracing the customers - who formed a lengthy queue to use the machine - the company has decided to write off the losses.

A store spokesman said it lost more than £5,000 but it would not be cost effective to chase every person who benefited.

'This was thankfully an extremely rare, operational error,' he said.

etc...

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... z0OcguExOx
 
Britons turn down free cash
The majority of Brits were so cynical when it came to accepting a genuine offer of goodwill that they turned down free money, research has revealed.
7:31AM GMT 07 Feb 2012

Cash was offered by five women to commuters at busy bus stations up and down the UK but an average of only eight people at each station, out of thousands of bus travellers, took up the offer.

Women wearing a sandwich board that read "Ask me to pay your bus fare and I will" were positioned at bus stations in Newcastle, Medway, Manchester, Perth and Leicester, but were mostly just ignored.

The experiment ran during morning rush hour each day for a week and just 38 people in total across the country accepted the offer.
When questioned, the minority who did eventually accept the free cash admitted they were reluctant at first because they thought the offer was too good to be true.
Those who did accept were generally teenagers, suggesting that the older we get, the more cynical of goodwill gestures we become.

Results showed that 69pc of Brits were too suspicious to accept offers of goodwill and also felt rewards and freebies are often too good to be true, while only 23pc of people thought it possible to get something for nothing.

The research was conducted by Ice, a loyalty scheme which rewards customers with Ice points for spending on eco-friendly goods and services.
Jude Thorne, Chief Executive Officer of Ice, said: "Our experiment shows that as a nation, we simply don't accept the notion of genuine bargains, discounts and offers with no catch, despite admitting that difficult times are forcing us to seek them out actively."

The company teamed up with Arriva UK Bus and Stagecoach Bus to offer free points redeemable against future purchases for customers who book their tickets online.

Footage from the experiment in action in Manchester can be viewed at: www.youtube.com/user/MyIceChannel/videos.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... -cash.html
 
Bank of Scotland machine gives out extra cash in Rutherglen

Dozens of people have been queuing to withdraw money after a bank machine began dispensing extra cash.
Strathclyde Police said they were alerted to the incident at the Bank of Scotland, on Stonelaw Road in Rutherglen, around Saturday lunchtime.
Officers went to the scene and alerted the bank, who were able to switch off the machine remotely.

The Bank of Scotland said the branch would "contact any customers who have been affected".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-g ... t-20377784

Heh heh! You know who you are!
 
@HiddenCash: Mystery benefactor Twitter clues lead to money
By Jasmine Coleman, BBC News

A mystery benefactor has been leading social media users on a treasure hunt for hidden money in the US cities of San Francisco and San Jose.
A man using the Twitter handle @HiddenCash has apparently given away a total of $5,000 (£3,000) in what he calls a "social experiment for good".

Twitter users have been following his hints to find notes worth $100 in white envelopes.
Many of the winners have gone on to share their findings with others.

In an interview with Time magazine, the anonymous donor said he had made his fortune from property deals and set out to "put smiles on people's faces" by giving a bit back to those less well off.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/27599877

Video here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27616077
 
#BBCtrending: @HiddenCash goes global
By BBC Trending
What's popular and why

An anonymous tweeter in San Francisco has sparked a trend that's starting to take off worldwide - the Twitter treasure hunt for cash.

Who wouldn't want to find an envelope stuffed with cash? That may explain why more than 250,000 people have started to follow the @HiddenCash account. As we reported on this blog, the account holder - who wants to remain anonymous - has been hiding money at sites across San Francisco, and leaving clues on Twitter.

Less than one week after that account tweeted its first clue, dozens of similar accounts have sprung up. Most are in the US - in Florida, Colorado, Texas and elsewhere - but the trend has started to go global. Nigeria, India, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and the UK all now have their own accounts.

"I saw it going viral on the internet, and I thought 'This is a really cool idea,'" says the man behind the new @HiddenCash_UK account, which was set up on Wednesday. He told BBC Trending that he plans to hide money-stuffed envelopes right across the country.

The first one - with £50 ($85) inside - was hidden in Leeds, and found by electrician Harry McKeown. He'd heard about the Hidden Cash accounts while watching TV at the dentist, and happened to be just five minutes away when he saw the first clue pop up on Twitter. "My friend said 'It will be a wind-up.' And I thought I'd look a bit stupid looking. But turned out it was legit," he says. "I was like 'No way!'" 8)

The next envelope will be hidden somewhere in Manchester. Another will be hidden in London on Friday.

Like the person running the San Francisco version, the man behind the UK one also wants to stay anonymous. He says he's relying on a series of close friends and contacts across the country to hide the money. So why is he doing it? "It's fun for me, and it helps people out - so it's a win-win," he says. :D

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-27622711
 
@HiddenCash: The Willy Wonka-Style Game That's Terrorizing California

If you were at the Empire Center shopping center in Burbank last night, you would have seen something that looked like a riot: hundreds of people running around wildly, climbing on bus stops and jumping out of their cars suddenly. They all were after envelopes of money secretly placed around the mall by the mysterious man behind @HiddenCash.

For just over a week, the person controlling @HiddenCash—who describes himself as a "wealthy" 40-something real estate developer—has been hiding money, usually around $250 per envelope, in and around the Bay Area and Los Angeles. After placing the cash, he gives hints on Twitter about the locations.

As the account has picked up in popularity, the scavenger hunts have become more and more intense. This video shows people in Burbank combing through trash cans (hint: the money is not in the trash).
http://gawker.com/hiddencash-the-willy- ... 1583900442
 
Sounds like the plot to an It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World-style madcap comedy movie. I hope the money seekers are getting up to hijinks and shenanigans while searching.
 
HiddenCash: can you crack this cryptic clue to find £1,000?
The millionaire behind the global treasure hunt craze has hidden three jars each containing £1,000 in the British countryside. Two have already been discovered, can you find the third?
By Josie Ensor
9:05AM BST 19 Jul 2014

Jason Buzi, the 43-year-old Californian property developer who started the worldwide treasure hunt HiddenCash, hid three jars filled with £20 notes around the country earlier this month.

Teacher Steph Williams and her husband, from Newport, Wales, found the first. They cracked the clue tweeted from the HiddenCash Twitter account “Shy Potassium” to claim their £1,000 at Coy Cae woods near Hay on Wye, deducing that shy=coy and potassium=k or cae.
They gave some of the money away to fellow hunters and donated some to charity.

The second was found by teenager hunters in nearby Mousecastle woods after they deciphered the clue “small rodent in a large house”. They decided to re-hide some of their winnings for others to find.

However, the last still remains to be found. Hunters have been told it is on the Welsh border and all are in the “same general area”. Here is a clue to help you:

Famous pirate with three names. Last is a metal, first is your location

Mr Buzi said the new elaborate treasure hunt was inspired by British artist Kit Williams, who in 1979 buried a hare crafted from 18-carat gold and jewels in a Bedfordshire hillside.
Over the following three years Williams became the focus of an international craze, as hunters followed clues hidden in his children’s book Masquerade to uncover it.

He has so far given away tens of thousands of pounds on hunts across the world. What started as small giveaways in San Francisco soon expanded to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Houston. London was the first of his European "drops", where hunters found £1,500 in Kensington park last month.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... -1000.html
 
Famous pirate with three names. Last is a metal, first is your location

Long John Silver?
 
Roman silver mines in wales.... :)
 
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