Andrew McDonald took that concept to the next level, with a whole stream of photos imploring the finder to return the camera. Even the criminally minded would have second thoughts about stealing this camera.
To illustrate just how you can safeguard your camera from the crippling effects of Camera Loss, here are the pics that I always keep on my camera.
http://www.andrewmcdonald.net.au/a-pictorial-guide-to-avoiding-camera-loss/
after looking through his photos i just want to beat him up and take his shirt.
Nope. Cameras do not really depreciate in value, so offering (say) $20 to return something worth many hundreds is not going to help encourage people to bring it back if they are mean enough to keep it in the first place.
"Guilt tripping" with pictures a la Andrew McDonald is the best way to go; baiting people by offering a pittance for a good deed could be seen as condescending.