I know it feels like a scam but it’s not. Abandoned property pops up all the time. It seems impossible for people like us to lose track of our money but those aren’t the only instances where property becomes abandoned. True story, a few years ago I received a letter from an agency willing to help me “navigate the claims process” for a 4 figure sum of money. I know how escheatment and abandoned property work so I went directly to my state’s treasurer to claim the funds. Prior to this, I never even considered I’d left money on the table because, well, obvious reasons for most people in this subreddit.

Since then, I’ve made it a point to search myself every so often. Then, I search every friend and family member I can think of so I can tell them they have money sitting with their state and it is 100% free to claim.…