Unclaimed Money (also, scam)

[Circe]

I got a formal looking letter from a company calling itself "Unclaimed Asset Recovery Consultants and Investigators," letter written by an attorney, but followed up with a PI license. If I faxed them some info, they'd help me claim the $700 waiting for me for only 10%!

Apparently this is a thriving "business" of sorts. On the plus side, there really was/is $700 waiting (I must have neglected to clean out an account/received a refund/gotten a partial paycheck? who knows ....), which seems worth finding a notary. On the minus side, I wonder how many people fall for this! Now I'll just cross my fingers and see how long the claim takes to be processed ....

 

[VRBeauty]

In California the State has a searchable unclaimed property website. Anyone can find out if the State is holding unclaimed property in their name and file a claim to get it back - free of charge. My guess is that's all this business is doing - searching free public data bases and then offering to do the legwork for you for a fee.

 

[Circe]

Oh, I agree - but one of the first hits on their name was from a woman who had filed the claim on her own behalf after receiving their fishing letter and was being sued by them for ... having been informed of the cash by them, as far as I could tell. So, perhaps not an outright scam, but something to be aware of, at any rate.

 

[Niel]

I work with a company that sends out disbursement checks often. If someone doesnt ever cash it, it eventually goes to unclaimed funds. If you google your state and unclaimed funds you can find numbers you can call to get it. it doesnt cost you anything, im 99% sure ( i just cant say for ever 50 states). A company just cant keep it forever, you know?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Hi, a few years back I was able to get a nice ck for unclaimed money. It was something I had heard about on Oprah or similar and then one day remembered the show and looked up the website which stated I had a check. To get the money, I had to file through the department of revenue through my state. It was free but required proof of who I am bc the ck was in my maiden name.

Eta- you shouldn't have to pay them the 10%. You can get the money on your own.

 

[Dee*Jay]

When I worked for a large financial institution I was in charge of the escheatment for the entire organization. If funds are "unclaimed" (defined as an account being coded as "lost," and that occurs if mail* is returned twice in a row) those assets must eventually be turned over the State for safekeeping until the rightful owner claims the asset. There are all sorts of complicated rules based on the type of asset (particularly whether it is a retirement asset or not) and the rules vary by state in terms of the number of years an entity has to wait before turning the asset over to the State. (Fifty states X different classes of assets X different time frames for the escheatment = much drinking... )

*Mail - this was back in 2001-2004. Not sure how an account is coded as "lost" now that so much more is done electronically. We would literally rely on paper statements being returned by the post office.

We did hire a service that would "reunite" people with their assets. It was totally legit; the company would use all sorts of resources (court records, death records, etc.) to find people (or their heirs, etc.). Many times the people didn't remember (or in the case of an estate, even know) about the asset and it was worth the person to pay the 10% to get the $. I suppose it does seem a little slimy in terms of paying to get reunited with your own money, but I guess the philosophy was that the person was better of with 90% of the asset than none of it.

Anyway, moving on to the most important part of this post: Circe, what lovely little bauble are you going to get with your found $???

 

[Dee*Jay]

Hi, a few years back I was able to get a nice ck for unclaimed money. It was something I had heard about on Oprah or similar and then one day remembered the show and looked up the website which stated I had a check. To get the money, I had to file through the department of revenue through my state. It was free but required proof of who I am bc the ck was in my maiden name.

Eta- you shouldn't have to pay them the 10%. You can get the money on your own.

Yes, you can get the money on your own if you know where it is and how to retrieve it. The services however are very cryptic; they only say in their correspondence there is an asset, but do not give any details, so if you want the $ and truly have no idea what it could be (especially in the case of an estate) you have no choice but to pay. And believe me, this is all perfectly legal (and icky as it seems). We also had people who came to us after getting the $ saying that since it was their money they wanted the 10% too. Sorry Charlie, no dice. Someone even sued (both us and the company that they went through to get the $) and lost. Actually, I think the case was dismissed in summary judgment before it even got past go. It's an *interesting* business.

 

[Dee*Jay]

One more thing -- every state has a site now where you can go an look up escheated assets. They used to publish lists in the physical paper once a year but I'm not sure if they do that any more. A lot has changed in the mechanics of how all this is done since I last worked on the process a decade ago.

 

[VRBeauty]

Oh, I agree - but one of the first hits on their name was from a woman who had filed the claim on her own behalf after receiving their fishing letter and was being sued by them for ... having been informed of the cash by them, as far as I could tell. So, perhaps not an outright scam, but something to be aware of, at any rate.

actually, I think that is very much a scam.

Let's assume this company has figured out how to comb your state's database and identify entries that are new since the last time they combed it... I'm sure it's easy enough for someone conversant with computers to do that.

They then do a quick search of public data bases to get the owners' addresses, and send them a letter within days after the property was listed. Since most people aren't checking the unclaimed property database on a daily or weekly basis, the letter could easily give them information they did not already have.

And then, they sue anyone who dares to claim their property without paying the fee...

I think I'll go check my state's unclaimed property website now.

 

[Circe]

...

Anyway, moving on to the most important part of this post: Circe, what lovely little bauble are you going to get with your found $???

Heheheh - when I mentioned this to my husband, he gloomily said, "yeah, we'll see that ...." so I'm not going to count my long-delayed payoff until it's deposited. BUT if it comes quickly ... I'm currently feeling kind of obsessed with mesh. Pearl mesh specifically, but since I'd probably need to add a zero, rhinestone mesh will do. They made these AMAZEBALLS evening bags back in the '20s, like this beauty - sadly already sold, or I would have leapt on it like Lucy with the football.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Oh, I agree - but one of the first hits on their name was from a woman who had filed the claim on her own behalf after receiving their fishing letter and was being sued by them for ... having been informed of the cash by them, as far as I could tell. So, perhaps not an outright scam, but something to be aware of, at any rate.

actually, I think that is very much a scam.

Let's assume this company has figured out how to comb your state's database and identify entries that are new since the last time they combed it... I'm sure it's easy enough for someone conversant with computers to do that.

They then do a quick search of public data bases to get the owners' addresses, and send them a letter within days after the property was listed. Since most people aren't checking the unclaimed property database on a daily or weekly basis, the letter could easily give them information they did not already have.

And then, they sue anyone who dares to claim their property without paying the fee...

I think I'll go check my state's unclaimed property website now.

The companies don't act on the assets once they are in the hands of the state, the companies get paid to reunite owners with their assets before they get to the state. I totally see what you're envisioning though, however the process once the money gets to the state would tip the owner off and he/she would never use the middle-man then because the forms very clearly state that the State is the one in control of the asset. And believe me, no state is going to release money to anyone unless that state gets its very specific own form back with the exact confirmatory information that it requires. So, just to talk a hypothetical through, some company figures out I have $$$ in safekeeping with the State of Illinois, unless there is an act of outright fraud* (e.g., altering documents) I can't think of a way for the company to insert itself in the process at that point.

BTW, I'm not being argumentative here (I realize it's hard to *explain* without sounding preachy because typing has no "tone"). I just wanted to give a little perspective because I was very very intimate with those whole painful process...

*Or perhaps it IS outright fraud you mean, and not just a "scam" where someone has figured out how to game the system for a couple extra bucks. I realize now maybe I misunderstood the level of nefarious-ness (I'm sure that's not a word!) that is being discussed.

 

[Dee*Jay]

...

Anyway, moving on to the most important part of this post: Circe, what lovely little bauble are you going to get with your found $???

Heheheh - when I mentioned this to my husband, he gloomily said, "yeah, we'll see that ...." so I'm not going to count my long-delayed payoff until it's deposited. BUT if it comes quickly ... I'm currently feeling kind of obsessed with mesh. Pearl mesh specifically, but since I'd probably need to add a zero, rhinestone mesh will do. They made these AMAZEBALLS evening bags back in the '20s, like this beauty - sadly already sold, or I would have leapt on it like Lucy with the football.

Pearl mesh... I can't picture this... ? Can you post something?

 

[VRBeauty]

The companies don't act on the assets once they are in the hands of the state, the companies get paid to reunite owners with their assets before they get to the state.

Ahhh... I see. So this company buys lists of unclaimed assets from the business that has them (utilities, banks etc)? But at some point the list of unclaimed assets has to be turned over to the state... so this company is working in that time period before the information has to be turned over to the state? Is that how it works?

 

[Dee*Jay]

The companies don't act on the assets once they are in the hands of the state, the companies get paid to reunite owners with their assets before they get to the state.

Ahhh... I see. So this company buys lists of unclaimed assets from the business that has them (utilities, banks etc)? But at some point the list of unclaimed assets has to be turned over to the state... so this company is working in that time period before the information has to be turned over to the state? Is that how it works?

Yes, exactly! They are working "in the gap" between when the asset is deemed *abandoned* and when it has to be escheated.