unclaimed funds

Gift cards have made holiday shopping a whole lot easier for millions of people. But they also raise a big question: Who should profit when people don't use up their gift card balances?

I don't believe in get-rich-quick schemes. Once I hit puberty, I dismissed the idea of searching for lost treasure as a waste of time. I refuse to play the lottery. I even gave up on the tooth fairy at the tender age of six ("she's imaginary," I told my parents, handing them the lost teeth with the...

If you're having a problem with a business, Consumer Ally can help. Write us at HelpMe@WalletPop.com. Q. My husband found out that there are unclaimed funds from his father with the state of New York (actually it is two shares of stock). We have provided the state with death certificates, birth...

A father and son have been charged in California with stealing more than $1.6 million in unclaimed funds from consumers who hired them to help collect money. Using forged documents and fictitious mailing addresses, the pair managed to steal from consumers they had reached out to and offered to...

For years, if I needed a little extra cash (the emphasis on little), I'd start digging under the sofa cushions, and if that didn't work out, I'd head to the laundry room (often, my wife takes the coins or dollar bills she finds in my pants and places them in a little pile on the dryer). And if I'm...

As April 15 creeps closer, many taxpayers are focusing on refunds. While those taxpayers rush to file their returns on or before Tax Day, the tax deadline takes on a whole other meaning for others. April 15 is not only Tax Day for the 2009 tax year -- it's the last day to claim a refund for the...

Every year, millions of people forget about savings accounts with slight balances, move and miss an insurance refund check, or otherwise leave some of their money behind. These funds find their way to the unclaimed fund office of each state government, waiting for the owners (could it be you?) to...