Missing Money: ‘Today’ Show Gives Websites To Find Unclaimed Money For Free [Video]

The Today Show unveiled to viewers in their “Summer of Secrets” segment about money how to claim any missing money. In a video accompanying the Today show segment about missing money, viewers learned that there are a few ways they can find any money owed to them by various states by using free search engines to do so.

One of those free websites is named MissingMoney.com, a site that allows folks to enter their names and states to uncover all the listings of institutions that might owe a person money, be they banks, Amazon, or wherever. Many states are listed in that Missing Money website, but not all. Users should be sure to not only enter the state in which they currently live, but to search for all of the states where they’ve resided in the past.

Another place to check for missing money is Unclaimed.org, which is the “NAUPA” site that stands for the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. That site allows users to click on various states and then be led to other websites that allow them to place their names or business names in search boxes to find missing money.

If money is found to be due to you, the sites offer ways to request claim forms to complete in order to receive the missing money.

Along with checking the IRS’s website, Treasury Hunt, for unclaimed savings bonds and payments and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation for unclaimed pensions, folks are advised to check their specific state treasury websites for more money.

You don’t have to put in your SSN right away, in case you’re worried about phishing and spam attempts. Simply type in your name and where you live, and you might discover that you’re one of the folks who’ve left an average of $1,000 behind.

It took about 3 minutes to search all the different names shown on the Today show, which reported that you could receive your missing funds inside 3 or 4 months — even though the Today show money expert found $25 and had a check within a week.

You do not have to use services saying they’ve found money for you, because you can use the above options to look for yourself for free. States are required to keep track of the missing money and required to give it to you when you request the monies, so it’s well worth the search.

[Photo by Getty Images / Adek Berry]