At least in the US: That's an old convention for a "bearer check", depositable to any account. Insecure, of course, but when checks were more common thus was sometimes a desirable option.
There's a reference to this in Mel Brooks' movie, The Producers, where one of the women being swindled has the line (approximately) "I've made the check out to Cash, as you asked... That's a funny name for a show!"
HOWEVER, that is true only if the check was properly signed and has not been stopped. If someone lost it and you found it, they probably immediately requested it be stopped, in which case the bank did exactly the right thing, though it would have been polite for them to actively advise you that the check bounced.
The check may also have bounced for lack of funds in the account, or otherwise failed to go through.
Until a check actually clears through the system, you can't be absolutely sure the money will be there. Unless it is a cashier's check/bank check, written against the bank's assets rather than those of a depositor. And even then, if the check was altered or otherwise invalid, it will be rejected, even if it is initially accepted.
If someone sent you this check, you may have been scammed. See other questions with the "scam" tag for details of kited/fraudulent check abuses. If that is what happened, you can wave goodbye to any of your own money you put into the transaction; unless you report it and they catch the scam artist and:are able to recover any of the funds, you will never see it again.
If something looks suspicious, always stop to verify it in detail.