A CALIFORNIA woman found US$36,000 (RM153,000) stuffed in the cushions of a free couch she snagged on Craigslist – and gave the money right back.

Vicky Umodu needed to furnish her new home and could not believe her luck when she found a sofa set being given away.

“I just moved in and do not have anything in my house,” she told ABC7 from her home in Colton, Los Angeles, this week.

“I was so excited, so we picked it up and brought it in.”

But it turned out there was a whole lot more to the giveaway than met the eye.

The lump she found inside one of the cushions turned out to be several envelopes filled with cash – worth thousands of dollars.

“I was just telling my son, ‘Come, come, come!’ I was screaming, ‘This is money! I need to call the guy’.”

Umodu called the people who given her the couch, told them of the bonanza and returned the cash.

The family, who were clearing out the home of a loved one who died recently, said they have no idea where all the money came from.

By way of thanking her, the family gifted Umodu more than US$2,000 – enough to buy the refrigerator she needs for her new home.

“I was not expecting a dime.” – AFP, June 3, 2022.