First reaction to this will surely be something like “It’s a scam.”  But if you believe Verisign seal present on the website, you will find that Missing Money is a valid business from the Tarrytown, New York based ACS State and Local Solutions and not just a personal data collection scam.  Moreover the outgoing links on the website to the state treasury offices are genuine.

Ok, coming to the point of what it actually does.  Missing Money provides free search for the cash and property you owe to yourself.  It’s not about any lottery or IRS tax rebate but the money which you would have forgotten and that remains unclaimed in the state’s official records.  This can include uncashed checks, unclaimed wages, bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, insurance policies, trust funds, stocks, bonds, dividends, mutual funds, utility deposits, escrow accounts etc.  In this way it becomes the first vertical search engine for finding lost money.  All you have to do is enter your last name and hit search to see the results.  First name, city and state are optional but can give better results.

As per the website, Missing Money is officially endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators and is supported by 39 states which provide records of unclaimed property to Missing Money.  See the list in the image and click on the image to go to the web page.

Since the search is free of cost and it does not ask for anything more than the state and your last name, I don’t think there is any harm in trying it.  If you get a good amount of money, don’t forget to buy me a beer at least

*Note: B.E.T.A. Daily is not endorsing Missing Money in any sense.

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