Got the strangest letter in the mail just now.

[Brigid]

It was from some woman MO. Never heard of her, or the town. The letter said she had printed out a list of unclaimed property in my name, from the IN Attorney General's Office unclaimed property website.The list has my old addresses, and property that seems to mske sense. She wants a 10% "gratuity" for having found this information. I am afraid that if I try to check this out, she might try to claim that I have a contractual obligation.The Indiana Attorney General's Office has been running ads about unclaimed property lately. Has anyone else ever gotten a letter like this?

[shenmue]

1. Sounds fishy

I would bring that to a lawyer.

[scarystuffyo]

2. I got that before but you don't need her

You can get the stuff your self

[winter is coming]

3. Sounds like a scam to me.

Go to the official website for Indiana and work down from there to the AG's Office (i.e., don't use a link someone else gave you.) If the money's for real and you actually claim it, it's up to you whether you want to send the woman a gratuity.

[sharp_stick]

4. You're not contractually obligated

to anybody that sends you unsolicited offers unless you sign a contract.

[Brigid]

6. What she doesn't know . . .

Is that I'm taking contract law this semester. Wait till I show this to my instructor.

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. Or, unless ...

you verbally agree and the offering party does something in reliance of your assent.

But OP can just go to the Unclaimed Assets/Property website and, if there is a match, claim the funds, with no obligation.

Unfortunately, the person that contacted the OP is caught up in one of the many "work from home" schemes where the schemer sends out (bulk mail) a gazillion "I got rich and you can too! Just send me $9.99 and I'll show you how." The schemer gets a ~$9.50 profit on every paid response ... so they send out a gazillion emails, buy ads in the back of check-out counter tabloids and link to "work at Home and Get Rich" sites.

The scheme is legal ... so long as one actually provides the instructions and doesn't promise or represent actual earnings (merely potential earnings are okay).

Now ... what the woman that contacted you will likely do (after going broke on this failed scheme) is re-package the come on that she received, and sell that ... that is the only way to make money in these schemes.

[Nye Bevan]

5. Just call the AG's office and say you think you might be on the unclaimed property list.

They will give you whatever you are entitled to without any self-appointed broker taking a cut.

[gratuitous]

7. Yep, it's a scam

I don't know about Indiana, but in Oregon, the Division of State Lands holds abandoned property and cash. Oregon has recently begun advertising that they have a website where people can check to see if the State is holding anything that belongs to them (they don't have the manpower or time to try to track down owners). If you can establish your right to the unclaimed property, they'll gladly hand it over. You don't need a broker or third party to investigate or make your claim. Indiana may have a website where you can check your name against their unclaimed property list.

[Cleita]

8. Hmm. Looks like one of the Nigerian letters claiming having found money

that belongs to you and that requires a certain stipend from you to get the money. I would give it to your local district attorney to investigate.

[Hestia]

9. Definitely never hurts to look. I got a paycheck that I knew nothing about that had been

held by the State on their scavenger hunt. I certainly didn't turn down 2 weeks pay from 2007. It was an alright check too and came at vacation time. It was lovely and our 11th anniversary.

[Travis_0004]

10. Go to https://indianaunclaimed.gov

Search for the money and make a claim if its there. Throw the letter away and cash the check indiana will send you.

[csziggy]

11. Most states have their unclaimed property online

I check every so often even though I shouldn't have anything in the state holding. Last time I was very surprised to find that I had a couple of hundred dollars. It turned out that there were a couple of big rebates that never got to me and were turned over to the state. Since I consider rebates a bonus, getting rebates I had given up for lost was a double bonus!

Here is the Indiana site: https://indianaunclaimed.gov/apps/ag/ucp/index.html

[Princess Turandot]

13. As others have said, she has no right to demand money from you for this...

out of the blue. You might want to report her to the state AGs office.

One thing that surprises me, however, is that she was able to get detailed info for you, such as the addresses. In the NYS version, the website first asked me for my name. It found something under the name but it required me to enter my social security number for further information. Perhaps she looked online for old address info for the people she was hoping to scam. (I confess that my first reaction was to wonder if she had access to their database as an employee of some kind.)

(There was some money owed to me from NYS, from a bank account that I had as a kid that I thought had been fully closed out. I got a check in three weeks.)

[Brigid]

16. That's what I was wondering.

How did she get all this info? I want to find out this from the AG office, if nothing else.

[marzipanni]

21. I have put old friend's and relative's names in state treasurer/comptroller online forms

when they have moved several times, or several years ago, or a parent died, for example. I told my cousin to look up her parent's names and since they have both died and she was their only child, she was able to write to the treasurer and somehow verify she is their daughter and collect some dividends or funds for which some company had no forwarding address to send the check to.

A couple of friends were unaware that old accounts existed in states they had moved from.

Oprah had a show about this years ago- it's kind of fun to find money and tell people they can collect it!

I suppose that woman just looked up random names and put the name in the form, which in most states tells you right away if there is any unclaimed property held for that name, and whether or not it is less than $100.00.

[Generic Brad]

14. And let me guess - she wants her 10% up front

Or better yet, she has somehow gotten the money in her hand and has asked you to deposit the check (which could not possibly be stolen or fake - right?) that she mailed you and then you wire her the 10% to a Paypal account or through Western Union. Or she needs your bank account number to make sure the money gets wired directly to you.

Suuuuure.

This is just the initial set up to an elaborate scam. Do not engage this person and walk away.

[Ilsa]

17. Be careful even claiming stuff.

Sometimes there are tax implications.

[chrisa]

18. Obvious scam

You don't have to give her anything.

[Jamastiene]

19. Mmm hmm, run for your life.

Sounds like that time I "won" a gift basket from Walmart and the guy said I HAD to give him my debit card number whether I accepted the "gift" or not. He would not get off the phone and said I HAD to give him my debit card number AND pay him a commission. Mmm hmm, whatever dude, click. That's how I ended the call.

Run for your life. Don't give anyone anything in this type of situation. It is a scam. Best bet is to turn it into the USPS for fraud and don't fall for it.

[Hekate]

20. It. Is. A. Scam. Call your local cops to let them know vulnerable people may be targeted.

If your local newspaper or TV station has some kind of help-line dealing with stuff like this, you might send them copies of this letter.

The scam call I got this summer was from a phone room someplace -- I could hear the multiple voices in the background. It was really scummy; it targeted senior citizens. "I am calling from (fake agency) about your problems with your hip replacement." (I have not had one of those, thank you.) I strung the guy along for awhile then demanded a call-back number. He got rattled, finally gave me one, then someone made him hang up. I called the cops and was told they knew about it (or others like it), and the best thing for me to do would be to warn my neighbors. The other thing the cop said that was interesting was that apparently this group was new at the scam business and hadn't done their homework: thanks to Face Book accounts, they can get real specific with your personal information.

Just sayin'