By Dave Dahl

If it’s too much work to get your own money back, there’s good news for you.

The state treasurer’s unclaimed property program now has a component called Money Match.

“We’re simply going to mail people checks,” treasurer Mike Frerichs said at a Chicago news conference Wednesday. “In the past, people would have to go to our web site, download forms, get them notarized, provide proof of ownership, and send them in to us. But we’re using the power of technology, doing a database search. If we can verify that someone lives at this address, then we will just mail them a check.”

Money Match is for single owners of property and are owed less than $2,000. The treasurer’s office estimates this means about 63,000 people are owed about $12 million.

The program’s purpose is to reunite people with cash and other goods bequeathed or left behind, usually in forgotten bank accounts or safe deposit boxes.

Frerichs says some people need to be convinced his program is not a scam; if someone claims to be from the treasurer’s office and asks for a fee or commission to get your money to you,
that’s a scam.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]