Ownerless Goods Ripoff Scams | The Communication Blog

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Ownerless Goods Ripoff Scams

By Odesi Desko

The English term bona vacantia refers to property that no longer has an owner, and is taken over by royalty. Various countries use different names for this procedure. There's no official name for this in America; it just consists of land that is unclaimed and, as a result, goes to the government. If everyone is unaware of it, however, you can recover 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.

Con men have found that the lure of unclaimed goods or having cash come to people from the blue can be used to perpetrate scams on hopeful victims. 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. Everyday people fall into this trap and are ripped off by con men every day with the lure of money from nowhere.

Availability of Bona vacantia, or unclaimed funds, is usually advertised on the Internet or by other means stating that there are unclaimed funds and one should apply, giving their name and other personal information so that a check can be made to see if they are on the list. Sometimes various family names will also be requested.

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.

Anywhere a person has their email or name made public is a source of potential victims for the Unclaimed goods ripoff artist, it could be the phone book, email lists or email scrapers off the internet. The next step in this ripoff is to be contacted by the con men usually by correspondence or by an e-mail and they will be informed they have funds due them. A simple glance won't usually reveal these communications to be frauds because the con men take pains to make it look as if the letter were from a government or state agency.

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 telephone-owner-search.com/780/961/, can save much time and many dollars because it would be immediately apparent the agent is not who he says he is.

Personal checks are even better for scammers, as it allows them to get more out of you. With the information on your check, such as your address and account number, they can empty your accounts. Sending a personal check to a con artist can result in identity theft. 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.

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