The name Bona vacantia , in England, stands for ownerless property that has passed to the crown. This has various names in other countries. In the United States it is simply unclaimed property that goes to the State where it occurred or, in some cases, to the government. However, it is recoverable if one knows about it.
Unclaimed property can consist of bank accounts, property, company assets, or any other item of value. Many times a person passes on without a will or designation of where the items are to go. These funds and/or properties are held for an indefinite amount of time by the departments responsible for them until claimed by an heir or the original owner if it was abandoned.
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. Everyone hopes that some deceased relative has left money or property that will make them rich simply by answering a letter or e-mail. Dishonest people take advantage of this desire to scam people out of their money.
Victims will usually see some sort of advertisement or communication online stating that they should submit their personal information in order to determine whether or not they qualify for the bona vacantia, or unclaimed property, that is being held by the government of their home country. You might even have to enter names of family members.
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. If you know this, you’ll be less likely to be scammed by tricksters.
Those who wish to scam people through bona vacantia claims just pick email addresses or phone numbers at random and contacts them. You then get an email or a letter from the scammer, informing them of their entitlement to certain withheld and unclaimed funds. The official appearance of the letter will serve to convince you.
The next step is when the victim responds to the communication they will be asked to give their contact details and usually a phone call will be made saying the goods are available but there are expenses or fees that must be paid before it can be released. In almost all cases the victim will not ever see anything from the money they have sent and the requests will continue until it is obvious they will not pay more to the con men. In cases like these knowing whom you are speaking to and being able to verify that with a service such as www.tele-snoopy.com/California/San-Francisco/415/407.htm, can save much time and many dollars because it would be immediately apparent the agent is not who he says he is.
Scammers are especially happy when the victim sends a personal check. This allows them access to the bank account number, the required signature, complete address, and other information. A large number of identity theft cases come about because of this action. Under no circumstances should a person respond to this type of correspondence but, if interested, should contact the proper governmental agency via the Internet or by letter.
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