There’s no reason to pay someone else to find your missing money.

At best, they want a share of money you could easily find and claim yourself, and at worst, they’re scam artists. Use caution when dealing with these companies. You might even receive a letter from a such a company indicating they’ve located lost assets, which they’ll help you claim in exchange for a part of the funds. Some companies will also help you find and claim missing assets, for a fee. Tracking down your missing money requires a bit of leg work, but online databases make the process much easier than it used to be. Only in rare cases, such as unclaimed lottery winnings or federal tax refunds, do you run the risk of forfeiting the money if you don’t act fast. In other cases, the federal government or another organization hangs onto it until the rightful owner appears. Most frequently, lost money ends up in the hands of a state’s department of unclaimed property, where it sits until someone comes forward to claim it. But unclaimed funds aren’t necessarily gone forever. You could have even inherited money or be the beneficiary of an insurance policy and not realize it. Bank accounts are forgotten, checks are returned as undeliverable when someone moves, paperwork gets lost, and companies go out of business and their retirement plans are turned over to third-party administrators. How do people lose track of billions of dollars? It’s easier than you might think. Forgotten pensions, old 401(k)s, and lost savings bonds are other sources of missing money. The IRS has nearly $1 billion in unclaimed tax refunds from 2012 alone. Abandoned bank accounts, uncashed payroll or refund checks, unclaimed insurance payments, dividends, and security deposits for utilities are among the sources of missing funds. States are sitting on $41.7 billion in unclaimed funds, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA). You could have hundreds or even thousands of dollars in unclaimed money waiting for you and not even know it. Stop hunting for lost cash in your car or couch cushions. A sign encourages the winner of a Powerball jackpot to claim their $63 million prize | MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Image

Unclaimed federal monies