Have you ever fantasized about being a treasure hunter finding riches beyond your wildest dreams? Youcan do your own treasure hunt online, finding unclaimed property, aka free money.According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), it is an estimated $42 billion inunclaimed funds in America as of 2021.
This might seem too good to be true, but it works if you use the proper resources. Some scammers are trying to take advantage of this program by setting up fake websites to gain your personal information.
The easiest way to determine the real unclaimed property websites from the fake ones is simply by looking at the URL address. Most legitimate unclaimed property websites use domain sending with .gov, and most counterfeit websites use domains with .com at the end of the URL.
Most unclaimed property websites are organized by state because the unclaimed property falls understate law with different stipulations upon collection. Unclaimed property is a lost, unknown, or inactive financial asset held by holders (usually a government entity or business) typically for five years. Suppose the holder is unable to make contact or locate the owner to return the asset. In that case, it is reported then held by the state Department of Financial Services, Division of Unclaimed Property.
The Department never takes legal ownership of the unclaimed property but acts as a state custodian as citizens have the right to claim their property at any time regardless of the amount at no cost. Unclaimed property can be in the form of credit refunds, dormant bank accounts, credit balances, unclaimed insurance proceeds, deposits, stocks, uncashed checks, dividends, and contents from abandoned safe deposit boxes in financial institutions or banks.
You can search for “unclaimed property” and the name of your state to see the different search websites you can use (again, only use .gov domains). Once you find an unclaimed property look-up website, you can search by name (maiden, married, or nick-name), business name, or address for anywhere you’ve operated a business or private residences (including prior addresses).
In some cases, you can also lookup names or addresses for people in your family living or deceased. If you’re lucky enough to generate results, then you’ll have to submit a claim. Submitting a claim will require specific documentation, such as a copy of your current identification with your current mailing address and proof of ownership of the account you’re claiming.
These are the basics in finding unclaimed property, and each state has different protocols for this system. You can visit unclaimed.org and choose your state that will automatically redirect you to the official state website for you to search for unclaimed property that could be yours. You can check to see if you have any unclaimed property during your free time, and maybe you’ll be on your way to a lucky payday.