Keeping found items and not using them for personal gain; returning lost phones, wallets, or cash to owners or police
Keeping found items for personal use when the value reaches “a relatively large amount” without returning them is a criminal offense known as misappropriation, punishable by up to 2 years in prison. If the amount is especially large, the sentence rises to 2–5 years. Using a found credit card at an ATM to withdraw cash is even more serious — it constitutes “unauthorized use of another person’s credit card.” When the amount involved is relatively large, offenders face up to 5 years in prison plus fines ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 yuan. In such cases, police open a case automatically without needing any complaint from the owner.
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Found property should be returned to the owner: notify them promptly to collect it, or deliver it to public se…
No cost at all — it only takes a few minutes. Simply call the owner or bring the items to a police station.
Found property should be returned to the owner: notify them promptly to collect it, or deliver it to public security or another department. Keeping someone else’s left property for yourself, when the amount reaches “relatively large” and you refuse to hand it over, is the crime of embezzlement, punishable by up to 2 years. When the amount is huge, 2 to 5 years. Taking someone else’s found credit card to an ATM counts as “fraudulently using another’s credit card.” “Credit card” in the Criminal Law, per the NPC Standing Committee’s 2004 interpretation, means electronic payment cards issued by banks and other financial institutions. Having all or some of the functions of consumer payment, credit lending, transfer and settlement, and depositing and withdrawing cash is enough. So ordinary bank cards that can deposit and withdraw cash are included. When it reaches a crime, it is handled as credit-card fraud: a relatively large amount brings up to 5 years plus a fine of 20000 to 200000 yuan (2万 to 20万). A huge amount or other serious circumstances bring 5 to 10 years plus a fine of 50000 to 500000 yuan (5万 to 50万) (nationwide)
全国人大 (2020). 民法典（第三百一十四条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202006/t20200602_463888.shtml；全国人大 (2020). 刑法（根据刑法修正案（十一）修正，第一百九十六、二百七十条）. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925/index.html；最高人民检察院 (2008). 关于拾得他人信用卡并在自动柜员机（ATM 机）上使用的行为如何定性问题的批复. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/flfg/sfjs/201208/t20120830_47871.shtml；全国人大常委会 (2004). 关于《中华人民共和国刑法》有关信用卡规定的解释. http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/npc/xinwen/lfgz/zxfl/2004-12/30/content_334756.htm
Open source linkMisappropriation is a crime that requires a formal complaint from the owner before police can intervene; otherwise, they cannot act on it. However, using a found credit card at an ATM falls under a different category — police can initiate proceedings without any prior complaint. The exact monetary threshold defining “a relatively large amount” is set by judicial interpretation and was not verified for this section. After items are handed over to authorities, owners may be required to pay storage fees when reclaiming them (Civil Code, Article 317).