Escheatment is the term for when the state receives unclaimed or abandoned money. It usually happens when a financial institution loses your address (i.e., you move), their mailed statements are returned, and they don't hear from you for a while. Another case is if you are listed as the beneficiary on someone else's account, and they die, and the institution can't easily find you. The law usually requires the institution to contact you. Usually they make a sincere attempt, but they also don't expend a lot of resources doing so.
When that happens, after a certain amount of time (different for every state) the institution has to escheat, or surrender, the money or assets (like stock shares) to the state. The state then holds the funds for a legally set time, to allow you to reclaim it. Most states don't try to locate you, but some do. If you never claim it, it goes into the state treasury of general funds and it's too late to get it back. The laws prevent companies from hiding unclaimed money in order to steal it secretly.
You can always look it up yourself, independently of the letter, to make sure it's not a phishing attack. But it looks like you have some money that you forgot about or never knew you had. Go for it.
Thanks for the reply. I don't trust my state government at all, and this is all very out of the blue. I guess there is no harm at least going to the link to find out how much they are talking about.
My pleasure, fren. I used to work at a financial institution, making sure (among other things) that we surrendered money to the states. We almost never had to, but the state auditors always wanted to be extra certain that our policies wouldn't let us steal from customers on the sly. That job is reserved for government!
The most effective rule against any potential scam is: never use the link or contact methods they suggest. When you look it up yourself to make sure you know who you're talking to, you'll get the right people. Phishing is mostly email and text, but it happens by snail mail, too. If you did that much, you're good.
Escheatment is the term for when the state receives unclaimed or abandoned money. It usually happens when a financial institution loses your address (i.e., you move), their mailed statements are returned, and they don't hear from you for a while. Another case is if you are listed as the beneficiary on someone else's account, and they die, and the institution can't easily find you. The law usually requires the institution to contact you. Usually they make a sincere attempt, but they also don't expend a lot of resources doing so.
When that happens, after a certain amount of time (different for every state) the institution has to escheat, or surrender, the money or assets (like stock shares) to the state. The state then holds the funds for a legally set time, to allow you to reclaim it. Most states don't try to locate you, but some do. If you never claim it, it goes into the state treasury of general funds and it's too late to get it back. The laws prevent companies from hiding unclaimed money in order to steal it secretly.
You can always look it up yourself, independently of the letter, to make sure it's not a phishing attack. But it looks like you have some money that you forgot about or never knew you had. Go for it.
Thanks for the reply. I don't trust my state government at all, and this is all very out of the blue. I guess there is no harm at least going to the link to find out how much they are talking about.
My pleasure, fren. I used to work at a financial institution, making sure (among other things) that we surrendered money to the states. We almost never had to, but the state auditors always wanted to be extra certain that our policies wouldn't let us steal from customers on the sly. That job is reserved for government!
The most effective rule against any potential scam is: never use the link or contact methods they suggest. When you look it up yourself to make sure you know who you're talking to, you'll get the right people. Phishing is mostly email and text, but it happens by snail mail, too. If you did that much, you're good.