Guide
Unclaimed money scams and how to spot them
One rule catches nearly all of it: nobody legitimate ever asks you to pay before you are paid. Here is the rest.
The one rule
No state, no legitimate recovery firm and no lawyer will ever ask you to send money in order to receive unclaimed property. Not a processing fee, not a release fee, not taxes, not a bond, not a wire to cover the transfer.
There is no exception to this. If you remember nothing else, that rule alone will protect you from the overwhelming majority of unclaimed-money fraud.
The seven signs
Any one of these is reason to stop. Two is confirmation.
- A fee is requested before you receive anything.
- You are asked to wire money, buy gift cards, or pay in cryptocurrency.
- The message claims your property will expire or be forfeited. It will not — states hold it indefinitely.
- It asks for your Social Security number before showing you any record.
- It implies the sender is a government agency, uses a seal, or says "Official Notice".
- It asks for your bank login or card details. The state pays you; it never needs your credentials.
- There is no written agreement, or the agreement has no named property and no percentage.
What a legitimate letter looks like
Real recovery firms do send mail — the records are public, and direct mail is the lawful way to reach someone whose phone number you do not have consent to use. A legitimate letter is checkable:
- It names the exact amount and the company that reported it, so you can verify it on the state’s own website in two minutes.
- It tells you that you can claim it yourself for free, and where.
- It states plainly that the sender is not a government agency.
- It gives you a way to stop receiving mail.
- It asks for no money and no Social Security number up front.
How to verify anything in sixty seconds
Take the name and amount from whatever you received and search it yourself on your state’s official unclaimed property site. If the record exists, the underlying money is real — whatever you decide about the sender. If it does not exist, you have your answer.
Never use a link from the message to do this. Type the state site in yourself, or start from our state pages, which link only to official state programmes.
If you have already paid
Report it to your state attorney general and to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. If you paid by card or bank transfer, contact your bank immediately — recovery is occasionally possible if you move fast.
Then check the underlying record on the state site. In a number of these cases the unclaimed property is genuinely there, and you can still claim it yourself for free.
Common questions
I got a letter saying I have unclaimed money. Is it real?
The underlying money often is — the records are public, so anyone can see them. Verify it by searching your name on your state’s official unclaimed property site. Whether to use the sender is a separate question; judge that by whether they ask for money up front, and whether they tell you that you could file free yourself.
Does unclaimed property ever expire?
No. States hold it indefinitely as custodian and never take ownership. Any claim that yours is about to be forfeited is false, and urgency is one of the strongest scam signals in this category.
Should I give my Social Security number to claim unclaimed property?
Only on the actual state claim form, or to a firm you have chosen after verifying the property exists. Never to see search results — no legitimate search needs it.
Where do I report an unclaimed money scam?
Your state attorney general’s consumer protection office, and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. If it came by post, the US Postal Inspection Service also takes reports of mail fraud.
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General information about state unclaimed property law, not legal advice. Rules vary by state and change; the controlling text is always the statute of the state holding the property. Last reviewed September 2026.
Find My Unclaimed is a private company. We are not a government agency and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any state treasurer, controller, or unclaimed property office. You always have the right to file your own claim directly with the state for free.