UNCLAIMED PROPERTY WEBSITE SCAM
The Pennsylvania Treasury Department has been informed that the website www.MisssingMoney.com (note the third "s" in "missing") may easily be confused with the correct web address www.MissingMoney.com (spelled correctly).
In December 2006, The Pennsylvania Treasury Department joined MissingMoney.com, a national on-line unclaimed property database operated by the Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) Unclaimed Property Clearinghouse. Treasury joined nearly all 50 states in participating in MissingMoney.com to allow Pennsylvanians the ability to search, for free, all of the participating states where they may have unclaimed property.
The Pennsylvania Treasury Department will never charge you a fee to help you claim what's yours!
The imposter website provides links to various sites that charge a fee to search for unclaimed property. Before making any kind of payment, please check with the Bureau of Unclaimed Property at 1-800-222-2046.
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UNCLAIMED PROPERTY FRAUD ALERT FOR PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEYS
Over the past year, Treasury’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property and its Office of Investigations have gathered evidence of at least three separate but similar attempts to obtain thousands of dollars in unclaimed property through false statements and fraudulent documents under the cover of services provided by attorneys in Pennsylvania and other states.
One of the methods used by the perpetrator is to contact attorneys in Pennsylvania by telephone, mail or fax, represent himself as a Montreal attorney, such as “Daniel Martin” or “Andre Sirois,” and engage the Pennsylvania lawyers to obtain court judgments, to appoint estate administrators, and/or to submit claim documents to Treasury. As part of the scheme, the fraudulent Canadian attorney falsely asserts to the Pennsylvania lawyers that he represents foreign or American financial institutions and businesses having an interest in the unclaimed property.
As a result of these interactions, the fraudulent Canadian attorney obtains personal identity information from the Pennsylvania attorney he deals with in connection with the preparation and submission of claims and court documents.
The fraud is currently the subject of investigations by U.S. and Canadian law enforcement agencies. Pennsylvania attorneys should be alert to requests or solicitations from foreign sources relating to legal services concerning unclaimed or abandoned property, particularly any with characteristics similar to those described above. The identity of the originating attorney or law firm and the authenticity of any supporting documentation should be verified independently before any action is taken by Pennsylvania attorneys concerning such claims or legal proceedings relating to them.
For further information concerning such schemes, contact the Office of Investigations, Pennsylvania Treasury Department, Room 132B Finance Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120, 717-705-7318 (telephone), 717-705-6623 (facsimile).
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SOCIAL SECURITY IDENTITY THEFT EMAIL SCAM ALERT
The Social Security Administration has issued a warning about an email scam that requests sensitive personal information, such as Social Security numbers, bank account information and credit card numbers.
The SSA has received several reports of an email message being circulated with the subject “Cost-of-Living for 2007 update” and purporting to be from the Social Security Administration. The message provides information about the 3.3 percent benefit increase for 2007 and contains the following “NOTE: We now need you to update your personal information. If this is not completed by _______, we will be forced to suspend your account indefinitely.” The reader is then directed to a website designed to look like Social Security’s website.
Once directed to the phony website, the individual is asked to register for a password and to confirm their identity by providing personal information such as the individual’s Social Security number, bank account information and credit card information.
To report receipt of this email message or other suspicious activity to Social Security’s Office of Inspector General, please call the OIG Hotline at 1-800-269-0271. (If you are hearing impaired, call the OIG TTY number at 1-866-501-2101). A Public Fraud Reporting form is also available online at OIG’s website www.socialsecurity.gov/oig.
The Treasury Department reminds Pennsylvanians, especially seniors, that they should ensure the legitimacy of the individual or organization before providing ANY personal information over the Internet or by telephone.
If you think you are a victim of identity theft, call the FTC Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-438-4338.
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UNCLAIMED PROPERTY WARNING:
DON'T PAY TO CLAIM WHAT IS YOURS!
The Pennsylvania Treasury Department is currently reviewing the practices of organizations and individuals that call themselves "property locators" or "finders." They frequently send letters to residents of Pennsylvania and other states informing them that they are owed money by the Commonwealth and that, for a fee or a percentage of the recovered property, the firms and/or individuals can help them get it. In some cases, these "finders" charge a fee just to send prospective claimants a claim form.
Please understand that you can contact us directly to obtain unclaimed property information and you NEVER have to pay a fee to claim what is yours from our Bureau of Unclaimed Property! If you do use a "finder" or any third party to help locate or claim your property, please make sure the identity of the "finder" is included on or with the claim form. By law, "finders" can charge a fee of NO MORE THAN 15% of the amount of the claim.
Furthermore, personal identification information relating to unclaimed property claimants, including Social Security numbers, is confidential. The Treasury Department does not make such information available to the public or to third parties engaged in business as “finders” of unclaimed, lost, or abandoned property.
“Finders” have access to publicly advertised lists of owners of unclaimed property. These lists do not contain the amounts of the property or the Social Security numbers of owners, and Treasury does not provide that information to “finders.”
However, some “finders” use sources available on the internet to obtain Social Security numbers, or portions thereof, relating to owners of unclaimed property, as well as the amount of that property.
If you are worried about possible identity theft, you should contact the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft hotline at 1-877-438-4338 or visit the FTC’s web site at www.consumer.gov.idtheft. The U.S. Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General also has a Fraud Hotline to contact if you have questions concerning the buying and selling of Social Security information. Their toll-free hotline is
1-800-269-0271 and their web site is www.ssa.gov/oig/hotline.
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CHECK FRAUD WARNING
The state of New Hampshire recently informed the Pennsylvania Treasury Department about numerous incidents of check fraud in which citizens are receiving fraudulent checks and letters that bear the name and signature of the State Treasurer. The letters encourage individuals to send 90% of the value of the amount they are allegedly due to the criminals in exchange for a check to cash. The New Hampshire State Treasurer reports that the check values are large, in one case over $250,000. Please verify the authenticity of any letter claiming to have been sent by a state Treasury and do not send any money to anyone claiming to be a Treasury Department representative.
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