In contrast an illegal stole one of my friends wallet two weeks ago and racked up $2000 in charges. The wallet (along with 10 others) was recovered during a police stop for suspicious activity.
Some time back I found a major credit card in a parking lot. When I got home I called the number on the back of the card myself, reporting it being found. It wasn't reported missing yet but was canceled and I shredded the card. From the reaction I got, I know the person at the card company had no expectation anyone would call something like that in. A bit sad, really.