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I Got a Letter About Unclaimed Money — Is It Real or a Scam?

Probably real, possibly useless, occasionally a scam. Here is how to tell which in about two minutes — without trusting the letter, or us.

Written by Jeffrey Cullinane, Founder — UnKlaimed · Last updated September 21, 2026

A letter turns up saying your state is holding money in your name. Your first instinct is that it's a scam, and that instinct is doing its job. But here's the awkward truth: the underlying thing is almost always real. States really are sitting on tens of billions of dollars in forgotten bank accounts, uncashed paychecks, insurance payouts and security deposits. California alone holds more than $11 billion.

So the question isn't usually "is there money?" It's "who is this letter from, and what do they want from me?"

Step 1: Verify the money without touching the letter

Do this first. Don't scan the code, don't call the number, don't reply. Go to your state's own unclaimed property website and search your name yourself:

California — claimit.ca.gov (State Controller's Office)
Colorado — Great Colorado Payback (Dept. of the Treasury)
Texas — claimittexas.gov (Comptroller)
Any other state — search for "[your state] unclaimed property" and use the result ending in .gov. Or start at unclaimed.org, run by the national association of state administrators.

Every one of these searches is free and needs no account. If the property in the letter shows up there, the money is real. If it doesn't, the letter is wrong or invented — stop there.

This works on us too. If we sent you the letter, the property we named is in California's published file, and you can confirm it at claimit.ca.gov in under a minute. We'd rather you did.

Step 2: Work out what the sender is

Once the money checks out, the letter is one of three things.

Sender	What they want	What to do
The state itself	Nothing. It's a courtesy notice.	File directly with the state. It costs nothing.
A recovery service / finder (this is us)	A percentage of the recovery, capped by state law, if they get it back for you.	Legitimate, but optional. Check their fee and their registration.
A scam	Money up front, or your identity.	Bin it. See the red flags below.

Step 3: The red flags

These are the ones that actually separate a fraud from a legitimate finder. Any single one of them is enough to walk away.

They ask for money up front. A fee to "release" the funds, a processing charge, taxes owed before payment, a wire transfer, a gift card. No state and no legitimate finder ever does this. Unclaimed property is your money; nobody needs a payment to hand it back.

They won't tell you the amount or the source. A real letter can say what the property is and who reported it — that information is public. Vagueness is how a scammer gets you to call and start talking.

They claim to be the government. A private company that implies it is the State Controller, Treasury or Comptroller is lying about the one fact that matters most. Legitimate finders say plainly that they're private and not affiliated with the state.

They don't mention you can do it free. Several states require a finder to tell you this. A letter that hides it is hoping you won't find out.

There's a deadline. "Claim within 30 days or forfeit." Almost universally false — states hold unclaimed property indefinitely, with no statute of limitations. Manufactured urgency is the oldest tell there is.

The fee is enormous, or unstated. Most states cap what a finder can charge, typically 10–20%. A letter quoting 35%, or refusing to name a number until you've signed, is either breaking the law or about to.

Step 4: Decide whether you even want help

This is the part most of these articles skip.

You do not need a recovery service. You can file with your state yourself, for free, today. For a straightforward claim — your own name, your current address, a bank account with a few hundred dollars in it — that is often the right answer, and we'll tell you so.

Where a service earns its fee is the messy end: old addresses that no longer match, a maiden name, a claim large enough to need a notarized affidavit, property belonging to a parent who has died, several properties across different holders, or a claim that's been rejected once already for a paperwork error. Those are the ones that get abandoned halfway.

If you do use someone, check these three things:

Is their fee at or under your state's legal cap? California caps recovery fees at 10% — the State Controller says so on its own consumer page. Ask, and get it in writing before you sign.
Are they registered with the state? California requires unclaimed-property investigators to register with the State Controller's Office. Ask them to send you the State's written confirmation.
When do they get paid? The answer should be "after the state pays" or "the state pays us separately." Never before.

A specific trap: the invented licence number. California registers investigators but does not issue them a public licence number, and publishes no searchable registry of them. So a letter that quotes you an official-looking "State Licence #" or "SCO Registration No." for California is quoting a number that does not exist — which tells you everything. Ask for the State's written confirmation instead, or call the SCO yourself.

Including us. We have no number to give you either, and we'd rather say so than invent one. What we can do is send you the State Controller's written confirmation of our registration — just ask. Or skip us and call the SCO's Unclaimed Property Call Center on (800) 992-4647, weekdays 8am–5pm Pacific.

One California rule worth knowing

If your property was reported to the State Controller less than 24 months ago, a paid recovery service legally cannot contract with you about it yet. California Code of Civil Procedure §1582 makes such an agreement void.

So if a letter offers to recover something the state has only just received, that offer is not enforceable. You can still claim it yourself at claimit.ca.gov immediately — the restriction applies to paid finders, not to you.

What if you throw the letter away?

Nothing happens. The money stays with the state, in your name, indefinitely. You can claim it in ten years if you like. Ignoring the letter costs you nothing except the time it takes to find it again later.

Check your own name, free

No account, no card, no obligation — and we'll point you to your state's own site so you can confirm every result independently.

Search unclaimed property

Frequently asked

Is unclaimed property real?

Yes. Every U.S. state runs an unclaimed property program. Banks, employers and insurers are legally required to hand over accounts that have gone dormant, and the state holds them for the owner indefinitely. Roughly one in seven Americans has some.

Why did they write to me instead of just paying me?

Because the state can't confirm you're you. It has a name and an old address from whoever reported the property, sometimes decades old. It needs a claim with identity documents before it can pay anyone — otherwise the first person to spot your name in a public file could take your money.

How did they get my address?

From the state's own published file, which includes owner names and last known addresses as a public record, usually then checked against USPS change-of-address data. That's how we did it, and it's how most legitimate senders do it. Our privacy policy spells this out, including how to be removed from our mailing permanently.

How long does it take to actually get the money?

Longer than you'd like. In California the law allows the State Controller up to 180 days from receiving a complete claim package. A straightforward cash claim in your own name can be paid in 30 to 60 days; heir, multi-owner, business and securities claims generally take the full six months, and the SCO is currently reporting higher-than-usual claim volumes. Anyone promising you a cheque in a few weeks is guessing.

Should I give them my Social Security number?

Only after you've verified the sender, and only through a secure channel — never over the phone to someone who called you, and never by email. The state itself will require your SSN on the claim form, so being asked for it isn't a red flag on its own; being asked for it by an unverified caller is.

Can I claim money for a relative who died?

Usually yes, as an heir, with extra documents — a death certificate and proof that you're entitled. These claims are genuinely fiddly and are the ones most often abandoned partway through.

About this article. UnKlaimed, LLC is a private unclaimed-property recovery service. We are not a government agency and not affiliated with any state. We send letters of the kind described here, which is precisely why we wrote this: we would rather you verify us than trust us. You can always search for and claim unclaimed property for free, directly from the state that holds it — in California, at claimit.ca.gov. Our fee is 10%, capped by state law, charged only on a successful recovery, and in California paid to us by the State Controller rather than by you.

Also worth reading: Unclaimed money in California · The Great Colorado Payback · Do I have unclaimed money?