Is this Yours? Here’s an easy way to prove it is!

It’s not unreasonable for staff holding an item that’s been handed in to a shop or lost property desk to ask for proof of some sort from whoever comes in to claim it.

 Sometimes just a description of the item will do, sometimes not.

I thought I had dropped my wallet somewhere in the supermarket this morning.  As I patted myself down at the checkout looking for it, I was wondering: if I did lose my wallet and it was handed in here, how would I prove it was mine when everything with my name on it is inside?

Then it dawned on me.   I still had my phone, so I could just ask the shop to send a notification using the details on the WhosMyOwner sticker in the wallet.   In a few seconds I’d have both an email and a text message to convince them that the phone and wallet belong to the same person.

This works in reverse too – if my phone was handed in I could show my wallet, which has the same WhosMyOwner reference, so a notification would be sent to my phone.

Had I actually lost my wallet?  No – luckily it was just buried deep in a coat pocket.