Spotting a Finder Scam
Unclaimed property attracts predatory operators because the target is someone who has just learned they might have money. Here is what separates them from a legitimate service.
Last reviewed Written from State Controller, State Controller data, Unclaimed Property Law Everything here is checkable without asking us.
Put the Phone Down If
- They will not tell you their fee before you sign something.
- They ask for money up front, or for a card “to hold the claim”.
- They create a deadline. There is no deadline in California.
- They will not name the property or its value in writing.
- They will not put their fee in writing before you sign.
- They ask for your Social Security number on a cold call.
- They claim a relationship with the State Controller that gives them special access.
The Single Best Test
Ask whether you could do this yourself for free. A legitimate service says yes, explains where, and then tells you what they add. Anyone who dodges that question has answered it.
What Legitimate Services Look Like
A named person with a verifiable credential. A published fee. A written disclosure before any signature. No money until you have been paid. And a willingness to tell you when hiring them is not worth it.
The Controller Publishes Its Own Warnings
This is not us characterising our competitors. The State Controller maintains a Consumer Fraud Alerts page, and the three things it warns about are worth repeating exactly:
- Generic postcards prompting you to call a toll-free number about an unclaimed property notification. The Controller states it is not connected with those mailings and cautions against calling a number from an unknown source.
- Official-looking letters and emails telling you to contact a private attorney or pay a fee up front. The Controller’s position is that you have the right to obtain your property without fees or lawyers by working with its staff directly.
- Anyone implying they represent a government office. Falsely identifying yourself as representing a government official is a violation of California law.
If you receive a suspicious solicitation from a non-governmental source, the Controller asks that you do not share personal information with the sender and instead forward it to CSUResearch@sco.ca.gov, where its legal team can act on it. That address works for solicitations from us as readily as from anyone else, and we would rather you had it.
The Industry This Sits In
Unclaimed property attracts finders because the State publishes the entire database. Anyone can download it, see who is owed what, and write to them. Most who do are legitimate. A minority are not, and the tactics are consistent enough to be worth learning.
The State Has a Word for Us: Investigator
The Controller calls firms like ours investigators, and also recognises the terms asset locator and heir finder. It publishes guidance for them, forms for them, and a page explaining them to consumers. If you want to know what we are supposed to do, you can read the rules we are supposed to follow without going through us:
- Investigators — the Controller’s page, written for consumers as much as for us
- Standard Investigator Agreement (PDF) — the State’s own contract form
Ask any firm that contacts you whether they will sign the State’s standard agreement. It is a short question with a very informative answer.
What a Legitimate Finder Cannot Do
California regulates this. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 1582, a fee for recovering unclaimed property is capped at ten per cent of the amount returned. The agreement must be in writing, and it must disclose the property’s approximate value. A finder cannot lawfully charge more, whatever the paperwork says.
There is no fee to claim your own property. The State charges nothing. Anyone suggesting otherwise is either mistaken or lying.
The Signs, in Order of How Often They Appear
Money Up Front
The single clearest signal. A legitimate recovery fee comes out of what is recovered, after the State has paid. Requests for a search fee, a filing fee, a processing fee, a bond, or taxes owed before release are not how this works.
A Deadline That Does Not Exist
California holds unclaimed property indefinitely. There is no expiry, no forfeiture date, and no window. “You must respond within fourteen days or the funds revert to the State” is fiction, and a useful one to recognise because it appears in almost every scam letter.
They Will Not Say What the Property Is
A real finder can tell you the holder, the type and the approximate amount, because it is on the public record. Refusal to say anything until you sign is a technique, not a policy.
A Fee Above Ten Per Cent
Twenty, thirty, fifty per cent — all unlawful for California unclaimed property. Sometimes disguised as a “finder’s fee plus administrative costs”. The cap is on the total.
Pressure to Sign Immediately
Nothing about this process is urgent. Any agreement worth signing is worth reading tomorrow.
They Imply They Are the Government
Official-looking seals, “Bureau” or “Division” in the name, envelopes designed to look like a tax notice. The State Controller writes to people directly and does not use agents.
Requests for Bank Details to “Release” Funds
The Controller pays by cheque to the claimant. Nobody needs your online banking credentials to process a claim.
How to Check Anyone, Including Us
- Search the property here first — free, and it settles whether the property exists
- Ask for the fee percentage in writing before signing anything
- Ask what the property is, who reported it, and roughly what it is worth
- Verify a notary commission with the Secretary of State
- Ask what happens if they recover nothing — the answer should be that you owe nothing
If You Have Already Paid Someone
Report it to the California Attorney General and to the Federal Trade Commission. If you signed an agreement charging more than ten per cent, that term is unenforceable as to the excess — a lawyer can advise on recovering it. If you handed over bank details, tell your bank today rather than tomorrow.
Why We Publish This
Because it costs us work and we would rather have it that way. A reader who understands the ten per cent cap and who knows there is no deadline is a reader who may well decide not to hire anyone. That is a legitimate outcome, and a business that needs you uninformed is not one worth using.
How You Are Protected
Our fee is capped at ten per cent of what is recovered by Code of Civil Procedure §1582, and nothing is owed until the State Controller has paid you. If we recover nothing, you owe nothing. Our recovery fee is never asked for up front — it comes out of money the Controller has already paid you. A booking deposit on an in-person appointment is a separate thing, and is credited back against anything you are charged.
California Unclaimed Property Services is a private asset recovery firm. We are not the California State Controller’s Office.
Sources
This page is written from the public record. Read the originals rather than taking our summary of them.
- California State Controller — Unclaimed Property
- State Controller — published property records
- Unclaimed Property Law — Code of Civil Procedure § 1500 et seq.
We are a private firm. We are not the State Controller’s office, not affiliated with it, and not endorsed by it.
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Give us a name and we will check the State Controller’s records under every reasonable variant of it. Asking costs nothing and commits you to nothing.