The English term bona vacantia refers to property that no longer has an owner, and is taken over by royalty. In other places depending on the location, it is called by other terms. In the United States it is simply unclaimed property that goes to the State where it occurred or, in some cases, to the government. If you know about the goods and can prove you should have them they can be recovered.
Almost any item of worth can be considered ownerless goods such as, abandoned checking accounts, real estate, or even jewelry Many times a person passes on without a will or designation of where the items are to go. Whatever department is responsible for overseeing the money or property holds onto them until such time as an heir or other recipient can collect them as stipulated in some kind of will.
This possibility of being the heir to unclaimed property or having unknown money floating in governmental coffers has opened a wide field for scam artists. It’s easy for many to fall into the trap that the email they just got is true and all they have to do is respond and they are rich. These same people can be preyed upon by scammers who just want their money.
These unclaimed properties or moneys are not kept secret but advertised in the local paper, or via a website and they may request some basic personal information such as a full name or possibly relatives names and that information is checked against the database to see if there is property for the inquirer. Occasionally names of relatives will be required.
Contact will soon follow, provided the family names you submit match their list, and you’ll be asked for more information. You won’t be able to contact a real person in this process, doing all this through email. A person aware of this information will not be taken in by a scam.
The Bona vacantia, or unclaimed funds, scammer selects names at random from telephone books, e-mail spyware, or anywhere the person’s name is published. The next step in this ripoff is to be contacted by the conmen usually by correspondence or by an e-mail and they will be informed they have funds due them. This correspondence is designed to look very official and authentic.
Upon responding to the scam correspondence, the victim is then contacted by phone and told that there is a fee or fees that must be made to collect the money. Many times, other money requirements and this ends up with the person contacted losing quite a bit of money without receiving anything in return. cell-registry.com/760/799/
Personal checks are even better for scammers, as it allows them to get more out of you. A personalized bank draft from the victim opens them up for even worse scams and their name, home address, bank account number and sometimes even driver’s license number become available to the con men. A large number of identity theft cases come about because of this action. Absolutely avoid these correspondences if you can, but if you do want to investigate these claims, consult the appropriate government agency to check up on them.
