Watch how people react to a “dropped” wallet in cities including Cardiff

A social experiment has been carried out with the aim of highlighting just how honest, or dishonest, UK shoppers are.

The experiment revealed that if you lose your wallet in Birmingham, Bristol or Cheltenham then you’re not likely to be made aware by others that you’ve dropped anything. However, the same cannot be said if you drop your wallet in one Welsh city. The results showed that if you drop your wallet in Cardiff, you’re more likely to have it returned.

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After spending a few hours in Cardiff City Centre, both male and female actors dropped the wallet 30 times each, and in every instance the actors were immediately alerted and ran after to ensure the wallet was returned to its rightful owner. There wasn’t a single instance where the wallet was ignored, rummaged through or attempted to be stolen..

The team behind www.myvouchercodes.co.uk carried out the hidden camera social experiment in a bid to determine how people in different cities would react if they were to witness someone dropping their wallet. Male and female actors were used in a bid to see if gender was an influential factor when deciding to steal, reunite or ignore the wallet. Four tourist hotspot cities were used for the social experiment: Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham and Cheltenham.

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Anders Nilsson, spokesperson at www.myvouchercodes.co.uk, said:

“Whilst the experiment has shown there are some good Samaritans among us, it’s still surprising to see just how many people will choose to ignore the situation when they witness someone dropping their wallet. As someone who’s experienced having their wallet stolen, I know how stressful and disruptive it can be not to have access to your cash and cards. There also seems to be a gender split emerging, where people are more likely to steal a wallet from a male and more likely to return a wallet to a female.

“Hopefully this experiment has shown that, for the most part, people around the UK will do the right thing. And for those who might be tempted to walk by or snaffle a wallet for themselves, maybe they’ll think twice and either make sure it gets returned or at least hand it in to a police station or lost property office.”