You are talking to a stranger
That is the whole idea. Most people who scan a tag are simply trying to do a good turn. But ReturnMePlz does not check anybody's identity, and neither of you knows the other. A little care costs nothing.
Share as little as you need to
If you found something: we ask for your email address, because that is how the owner's replies reach you and how the two of you arrange the return. The owner never sees it: when they reply, we email you. You never have to give your name or phone number, so leave them out of your messages unless you have a reason to share them.
If you lost something: you never have to give a home address. If you do decide to have an item posted, use the "Share address" button rather than typing your address into a message: that way it stays inside the conversation, never appears in an email, and disappears automatically after ten days. An address typed into a message is just a message, and we cannot take it back out of somebody's inbox.
Do not share bank details, card numbers, passwords or anything that could be used to get into an account. Nobody needs those to return a water bottle.
The three ways to hand something back
Leave it somewhere safe. Often the easiest and the safest: a school office, a workplace reception, a leisure centre desk, a café counter, a shop, or a police station. Tell the owner where it is and who has it. Nobody has to meet anybody.
Post it. No meeting, and the owner can offer to cover the postage. Get proof of postage. The parcel is at the sender's risk, so if it is valuable, use a tracked service.
Meet up. Fine, with sense:
- Meet in a busy public place, in daylight: a café, a station, a supermarket entrance.
- Never at a home address, yours or theirs.
- Tell somebody where you are going and when you expect to be back.
- Bring somebody with you if you can.
- Do not send a child to a meeting, and do not arrange to meet a child. If a child found the item, ask them to give it to a parent or teacher who can hand it over.
- If anything feels off, stop. You owe a stranger nothing. Leave, and tell us.
Rewards
A reward is a thank-you an owner may offer. It is voluntary, it is between the two of you, and no money goes through ReturnMePlz: we do not hold it, guarantee it or chase it.
Nobody is allowed to demand payment to give you your property back. If a finder says they will only hand something over for money, that is not a reward, and it may be a criminal offence. Do not pay, do not go to a meeting, report it to us at info@returnmeplz.com, and if you feel threatened, contact the police.
Equally, if you offer a reward, please honour it.
Watch out for
- Somebody who cannot describe the item but insists they have it. We ask every finder to describe what they found for exactly this reason.
- Pressure to move fast, to pay first, or to switch to another app.
- Links in a message asking you to log in or pay. We will never ask for your password, and we will never ask you to pay through a link in a message.
- Anybody claiming to be from ReturnMePlz inside a conversation. We do not do that.
If someone is behaving badly
Report it: use the report link in the conversation or email info@returnmeplz.com. You can report whether or not you have an account. We read every report.
If you are in immediate danger, call 999.
Fraud: Action Fraud, 0300 123 2040, https://www.actionfraud.police.uk
Concerns about a child: NSPCC, 0808 800 5000, or https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
Children
Our accounts are for adults, but a child may well be the person who finds something. If you are a child who has found a tagged item: you do not need to give your name. Sending a message does need an email address, so the owner's reply can reach you, and the owner never sees it. The best thing is to tell a parent, a teacher or another adult you trust, and let them send the message with their own email address and hand the item in. Do not arrange to meet anybody.
ReturnMePlz · info@returnmeplz.com