Man bought storage unit for £380 and found £5.7 million inside but only kept £900k
Storage Wars star Dan Dotson sold the abandoned unit onto the lucky bloke
If you've ever thought that scouring through abandoned storage units was something of a fool's game, this fella's incredible find might just change your mind.
Taking part in this kind of blind treasure hunt is always a gamble, but sometimes, it can pay off big time.
To the tune of $7.5 million (£5.7 million), to be exact.
One lucky fella discovered the staggering amount of cash lying around in a safe after snapping up a neglected storage unit in the US for just $500 (£380) from Storage Wars star Dan Dotson.
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The 62-year-old is a veteran in the auctioneering game, as he learnt the tricks of the trade from his grandfather when he was just 11 years old.
He eventually went on to launch his own business, named American Auctioneers, which he runs alongside his wife Laura.
Dan has flogged countless storage units throughout his lengthy career, however, this one sticks in his mind for obvious reasons.
He shared a video to YouTube in November 2018 explaining that a woman had approached him at a charity event to inform him that a friend of a friend had purchased a disused storage unit from him.
Reciting what she told him, Dan explained: "It had a safe in it and the first person that they called to open the safe, I guess couldn't, or didn't.
"They called a second person and they opened it up. Normally, they are empty. But this time, it wasn't empty. It had $7.5 million cash inside the safe."
According to the auctioneer, the bloke then 'mysteriously' received a phone call from a lawyer representing the former owner of the storage unit.
Dan explained that the solicitor offered him $600,000 (£455,436) to return the unit - and obviously, the extraordinary contents of the safe.
The offer was then doubled to $1.2 million (£910,764) to encourage him to shake hands on the deal...and although thousands of people wouldn't, the buyer of the storage unit agreed to it.
So, the man ultimately ended up walking away with a much smaller chunk than he originally started with, as well as a clean conscience. Which, some would say, is priceless.
In his clip telling the unbelievable story, Dan asked: "What would you do with all that money?
"The question is, would you give it back? Would you keep it and run for the hills? What would you do?"
His wife and Storage Wars sidekick Laura admitted she would feel 'worried' about keeping hold of the cash, saying: "I don't feel like it would be clean money. I'd accept that $1.2 million and just be happy.
"But this happens all of the time. This is the modern day treasure hunt."
Dan agreed, explaining that he wouldn't like to feel as though he had to 'look over his shoulder'.
He then raised some questions about how on earth the original owner of the unit had managed to track down the buyer's contact details, as well as how they had 'forgot' about the millions they left inside of it.
"I don't think that you would forget that you have $7.5 million inside a unit," Dan added. "But maybe you're just in a position where somebody else is in charge of it."
Whatever the case may be, social media users couldn't believe that the bloke had agreed to hand back over the money.
One person wrote: "I'd never open my mouth if I saw $7.5 million."
Another joked: "I would’ve paid you guys off and told you to erase my name like you never saw me. Taken off and bye bye."
A third added: "Legally, they didn't have a leg to stand on. They better be asking really nice."
Others were a bit more wary about the idea of hightailing it out of town with millions of dollars.
"If they could find me once I am returning their cash FAST! Thanks for the fun," one viewer chimed in, while another wrote: "I'd take what they was offering, be on my way and thank the good Lord for the blessing."
Olivia Burke