Guess if it is a phone sometimes they are locked and if not labeled with some identification hard to know who it belongs to. However, if the phone is unlocked you can always call a contact or two and they should know who the phone belongs to because of the caller ID. I've done this a few times having found a phone on the road and in a store. I'll look. However, if I find a phone or other item in a store I'll drop it off at the front desk as most people will back track and ask if anyone has turned in any personal property. If the store/establishment employees are dishonest I guess they could "withdraw" valuables from the item but hopefully it will be caught on camera, or they'll blame the finder, which is silly in the first place since the finder turned it in. HOWEVER, someone before them could have taken valuables also and left the item at the location and you could still be blamed. Some people just ignore these situations because they don't want to get caught up in any drama. I guess you could also inventory any valuables with the store employee to establish what valuables are in the item to keep them honest.