now why would anyone report it?

surely you'd just give positive feedback

item much better than described; more extras included than stated, I would definately buy more PS2's from this ebayer A++++++++++++++

Got the Ebay item number so I can buy one too ?

I normally keep quiet about the unexpected suitcases full of cash that I get delivered with my 2nd hand electrical purchases.

"Excellent deal A++++++++" then keep your gob shut.

Of the villain/gangster who was expecting 44k and got two Play Station games instead

Way to make your kid resent you! Top marks.

Are you sure?

Are you really sure?

The kind of person that is sending out 44 grand in cash and who also knows your address might not be the kind of person you want to rip off.

I think in this case notifying the police was probably the only safe thing the family could do - though I will admit - I might have pocketed a couple of grand and hidden it before contacting the fuzz.

Strange that they reported it, and stranger still that it even arrived in the first place without getting "lost in the mail". I bet the Postie is kicking himself.

Would £44k even fit into a Playstation-sized box?

Would you run the risk of getting burgled after confirmation of delivery was sent to the sender?

Seems to me to be an excellent way to launder money......

On another note.... I thought you had to be at least 18 to buy or sell on ebay due to consumer credit and that?

Not many teenagers that can scream "I hate you, you cost me 44 grand!" at their parents!

I agree with Paul above. I would inform the police and go through all the proper channels to secure the funds, in the most public way possible. After all, there is nothing illegal about receiving that money, though perhaps there was some illegality involved in the sending of the money (e.g. money laundering.)

Unless the bills are marked or tracked by serial number, it will be difficult to establish an illegal connection.

Missing games? Stuff that - how many football pitches would the cash cover if laid side by side or, conversely, how many football pictches worth of turf could you buy with £44k?

Honestly, The Register is letting us all down again by not providing the IMPORTANT stats.

Any word on what the missing PS2 games were? My guesses would be 'Smuggler's Run' and 'Mafia'.

"Hello officer, we found forty-four, no forty-three, erh fourty thousand in a box with our son's Playstation. Do you want to come by and seize the forty, umh thirty-five grand?"

Or "Scarface" and "The Godfather".

Maybe it's just that Rockstar is trying to get to the "unprecedented level of realism and interactivity" in GTA IV they announced.

To see if the family successfully claim back the money.

Anyone care to make odds on the money being indefinitely held by the authorities due to further investigations?

I reckon the PS2 itself would hold more information in the way of fingerprints, clothes particles, etc.

In the original article, it's 65KEuros. If they're 500Euro notes, that'd be 130 of them. The size of a small paberback. 200 and 100Euro notes would probably also be feasible.

Was that the total amount of cash Sony has ripped off people from their consoles?

@ Simon Day:

65k Euro in cash? Around NZ$113,424?

Shit, yeah! With that kind of loot, my address would be changing pretty quickly...

44k GBP isn't nearly enough to buy a house with, at least not one you'd want to live in. Sorry.

We've all missed one important question that hasn't been answered:

Who the hell pays £95 for a second hand PS2? On eBay??

Sounds like the kid already had money to chuck around.

"I might have pocketed a couple of grand and hidden it before contacting the fuzz."

The amount in the package may of started at £60k :)

...not only have his parents screwed him over by giving his money away, the poor kid has been forced to buy an outdated console from eBay and worse still a PS2!

nothing on this planet would part me from that money, you just tell the police of harrassment if the seller contacts you but i can imagine he would think the police were envolved anyway and call it a loss at that.

44k would deffinatly be in my loft gradually paying my bills off as to not arise suspicion

<ebay vendor> Where on earth did you stash that drug money ?

<ebay vendors girlfriend> Err, In that old PS2 box you've got ....

<ebay vendor> Noooooooooooooo ....

...this thing turned up via recorded delivery, I'd be whacking up negative feedback and complaining I hadn't recieved my goods yet ;¬)

I think contacting the seller would have been a preferrable safe option - definitely what I would have done. Could have cleared this up without getting the police involved, and returned the money or confirmed that sending it had been intentional (!?), without a load of wasted time with the cops sitting on it in the meantime.

...left negative feedback for the missing games. I hate it when that happens.

After I regained consciousness, I would've reported it, too... That's like, 80 grand or something here in the US. HOLY COW! I would be worried about some drug lord coming to collect the mis-directed booty and hurting my family. If it was "meant to be" then we'd get it back from the police later. Otherwise, the rightful owner could claim it. People do the weirdest things...

if i'd received the money I'd be ever so slightly worried that the sender knew where i was and knew i had his money.

Wouldnt put it past them to break into your house and torture you into handing it back.

If he paid through paypal he would be able to get his £90 back because the item wasn't received as described!

....the ultimate kick in the nads!

"I might have pocketed a couple of grand and hidden it before contacting the fuzz."

DING DING DING!!!!

Wait, how do we know it wasn't 50k originally?