I received a 2-Page letter in the mail from a Joseph Richards & Associates stating:
After unsuccessfully trying to contact you, Safeco Ins Co of Amer has transferred your $500.00 refund into a third party escrow account, where it is being held on your behalf (see the information box above).
Private Investigators working for Joseph Richards & Associates were able to find your correct address, and we’re contacting you today because we’d like to make sure you collect your money.
Please contact our claim recovery agents so that they can help you navigate the escrow process
To claim your money online
1. Visit http://www.jrfirm.com
2. Â Enter your ID: XXXXXXXX and Last Name: XXXXXX
If you prefer, you can also claim your refund by mail:
1. Sign and date the enclosed agreement.
2. Return it in the envelope provided.
3. Wait for your claim packet to arrive in the mail.
Please do not send us any money.  After you receive your $500.00, we will send you an invoice for our investigation fee, which is: $100.00.  If your claim is denied you will not be charged a fee.  If you have any questions regarding your claim, you can call us toll-free at 1-800-995-2416.
Sincerely,
Claims Department
We are licensed and regulated by
CA Secretary of State C3091706 (New Concepts Inc DBA Joseph Richards & Associates)
3801 Pegasus Drive, Suite 101, Bakersfield, CA 93308 * 800 995 2416 * www.jrfirm.com
It came with the accompanying “Refund Authorization Form”:
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| Joseph Richards & Associates Refund Authorization Form |
The question is–Is this a scam or is it a real deal?  I didn’t mail in the letter or return the authorization form but I did figure out what the deal was.  I did have Safeco Insurance at one time so I called them up and asked if I was owed any money.  They didn’t know anything about a settlement or a refund that had not been paid to me.  I was beginning to feel this must be a scam if Safeco themselves didn’t know about any money.  Then it occurred to me that it might be unclaimed property being held by the State of Colorado (where I lived when I had Safeco Insurance).  So I searched at The Great Colorado Payback and low and behold I found that I did have unclaimed money there!  You can follow the steps I took to get my money on another blog post I made here:
How to Get Your Joseph Richards & Associates Unclaimed Money On Your Own
If you received a letter from them let me know in the comments.
Update 11/30/13:
I received my check from the State of Colorado today!
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| Colorado Unclaimed Property Check via a tip from a Joseph Richards & Associates Letter |
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I just received a letter from this outfit. Went online and in my estimation this is a scam. They claim to have money from an insurance company my dad used to buy insurance for me when I was born. It’s been sitting for years. I know what and where it is. No need to pay these guys to get cash I already am aware of. People, be careful.
Thank you very much, I logged on to California’s website from the links you provided and after doing a search I found the claim and processed it online. Took about 5 minutes and I should be getting my money sent to me. Have a great day.
Good work Victor at getting your money back!
I have received letters from this Association before, always thought it was a scam. I followed your State information and was able to retrieved the money owed to me. Thank You so much for the web site to follow.
Good work John in tracking down your money on your own!
Thanks so much for this! I just changed it to my appropriate state abbreviation, and now i claimed two unclaimed properties without having to pay a fee.
I got one of these letters yesterday so I went on the state website and I am not owed any money. I feel like this must be a scam to get $41 from me.
I received one as well. I went ahead and submitted my claim using their forms. I wouldn’t have known about the money without them. Almost $3000. Otherwise I did think about doing it on my own and did find the claim forms to do it. But I would have never known, so I figure a 15% finders fee isn’t bad. But its legit. Although they had my name spelled wrong originally, I was able to correct it and find docs from 9 years ago to prove it was me. Anyone reading this, go to any state you have lived in and go through their unclaimed funds websites. You might have money out there you didn’t know about too.
Thanks for sharing about your experience Mark.
Hi. I received a letter like 2 months ago and signed the agreement. Had it notarized then sent it back to Payne Richards and associates. The company never sent me a claim form which I now know they are supposed to do. Why did they have the claim form sent to their offices instead?
I’m not aware of what they are required to do as I didn’t use their services. You are contracting with them to file the claim on your behalf, maybe that is why you didn’t get anything.
Total legit. Worth paying them a “finders fee” as would have never known.
These were great recommendations. I was able to go on the State of CT OFFICE OF THE STATE TREASURER
UNCLAIMED PROPERTY DIVISION and was able to claim my lost property instead of going through these lawyers. Mark is right, all thanks to the original letter sent by Joseph Richards & Associates.
Rebecca, I’m glad you were able to get your money, for free!
I just received a letter from them, but I suspected a scam. Instead I did some research and found the unclaimed funds website for my state. I called the toll free number to the state to file the claim. While on the phone with them, they alerted me to 3 other unclaimed funds and submitted the claim for me, over the phone. I’ll be getting the paperwork in a few days and while it may take up to 90 days to get the funds, I will not have to pay a finders fee to anyone.
Still, I would not have known about the original claim, had they not alerted me to it. I don’t really understand how the money goes from the original company (in my case, Geico) to me, uncashed check, then to the state. The state apparently keeps the money indefinitely and staffs a service desk to answer questions from citizens. It’s mind-boggling.
Good job Tom on finding your own money! Yes, it’s sad that money gets left out there and the states sit on it. Thankfully now that it all is going online it is easier to find.
How can I claim money that is supposedly owed to me by Att services? I like also received the letter. I live in California but no names matched when I searched! Thank you in advance.
Thanks for the question Maira. For me, I had to look into the unclaimed money department for the state where I lived when I had the service. Where have you lived and had AT&T for phone, television, and/or internet? I would check the unclaimed money websites for every one of those states you’ve lived in and had AT&T. I have a list of the websites for every state here.
I just sent in for my refund directly to the State of California, and a week later, I received the same type letter from this company. This seems fraudulent to me. Who do I contact to have this letter investigated?
I received TWO letters a week apart, one with my correct name with the offer of $800 and one with my last name misspelled for $447. Needless to say, the Company was the same and had no idea what this was…so will pursue on my own to see if it’s legit. Oh…the first letter said to send them copies of my DL and SS card (I don’t think so) and the other said just to submit $43.95…whoop whoop scam alert!!
I got the same letter .didn’t know if I was suppose to pay so I did $620.00 dollars did I do the right thing.
It’s not wrong to pay but if you can figure it out on your own, you get the whole amount.
Short and sweet.Joseph Richards & Associates did right by me!
Mike, thank you for sharing. Will you please share more about your experience with them? For example: Will you share more about what your letter said? Did you try to find your money on your own? Thanks, John
Although many of you log on to this blog to complain about Joseph, Richards & Associates; you all fail to recognize one point. If you would not be notified by that firm of your missing money, none of you would go and recover it. Do you know that employees spend valuable time and money trying to establish contact with all of you. Stop complaining and say thank you! (Maybe even send them some $ for their hard work)
Thanks for your comment Yee, that's definitely true and I've tried to just share the truth of what I experienced and hopefully it will help others out.
Scam, I called and it goes to answering machine everytime.
I just received one of these letters today but they ARE asking me for money up front. Apparently Pacific Bell Telephone owes me almost 350.00 from around 20 years ago. Can you believe that?! But this Joseph Richards and Assoc. do request 35.00 dollars up front to send me a verification form. You're sure this isn't a scam?
I wouldn't send it in, I'd go get your money yourself just like I share all the steps I took in my other post here: http://www.johnfixesstuff.com/2013/11/joseph-richards-associates-colorado-unclaimed-property.html
I looked on the California State Controller's Office website and it says I have no unclaimed property so it won't give me an ID number to file a claim. What should I do?
Well Jennifer, your situation deviates from the experience I had. I would NOT send anyone money up front based on an unsolicited letter. Are you certain California is the correct state? You may try contacting Pacific Bell directly, their phone number is (415) 542-9000 .
Hi John I just received that same letter and I'm glad you say is not a scam! But my question is do I really have to pay the investigation fee?? Because if I do it will be $75.95 since I got to letters what can I do?
Hi John I just received that same letter and I'm glad you say is not a scam! But my question is do I really have to pay the investigation fee?? Because if I do it will be $75.95 since I got to letters what can I do?
Check out my other article (which I link to in this article above) where I walk you through what I did to get the money on my own without paying ANY fees to anyone: http://www.johnfixesstuff.com/2013/11/joseph-richards-associates-colorado-unclaimed-property.html
I also got a letter. It said I had $1,000.00 in unclaimed money. I had to send them a check for $48.95 and give them my SSN, driver's license, date of birth, name, address…. It sounded like a scam so I checked CA unclaimed funds and found there was unclaimed money for me. I claimed it online and received a check which I cashed. The amount was $24. I would have been pissed if I sent $48 to get $24 and gave some stranger all my identifying information. I reported the guy.
Thanks for sharing Mary. I don't believe it is a scam–I would keep looking in all states you have ever lived in–I bet you do still have that $1,000 out there. Did the letter give you any clues as to what company the money was from like mine did? That might help. Thanks again for sharing. –John
He lied about the amount of money that was owed to me. The company that owed me money was the same as the one he mentioned. He also says he's "regulated by the California Secretary of State." Then he lists a number. It's just his California corporation number. He's not regulated by the state. This person is dishonest. He would only offer a refund if the claim were denied. It wouldn't have been denied. It just would have been for only $24.
Well Mary, your comment is here for everyone to read, I'm sorry it happened way but I'm glad you came out getting what was owed to me. When I got my letter and investigated it on my own I did find it just as described. I think one thing can be said and that is that the State money would have come directly to you and then you would have received a bill from these guys. You could show them a copy of your check and tell them their bill is incorrect. They only say they are going to charge you a percentage of the money, correct?
I received a similar letter and I simply googled to verify the legitimacy. I came across this site and ready John's replies I am convinced. I did look up the states unclaimed property and voila I could find my details ! Thank you very much John Mueller – for I can directly process claim from that website withtout having to pay $50 to Joseph Richards & Associates. I have a question though – I dont live in US anymore nor do I have any bank account there. All my mailers are forwarded to my friends permanent address in US and thats how I came to know about this unclaimed property. In such a case, how will I encash the payorder? or how do i claim the credit? Any idea? Thank you ! Take care 🙂
Pawan, thanks for your comment. I'm not sure how you will get your money "cashed" but I'm pretty sure you can get it sent to your friend's address and then go from there. I'm glad you were able to find your money on your own! Please do come back and share if you are successful.
Hey John,
I was able to process the claim and had the payorder mailed to my friends permanent US address. It took more than 3 weeks but I ain't complaining. Also, I found out a way to encash the pay order without having it deposited to my account (which is no longer active). I just have to endorse the pay order in my friends name and he can go the bank and encash it and pay me whenever we meet next! Though that's Step 2, but I was able to reach this stage only through your help, guidance and assurance. And I really appreciate your help to all my fellow claimants! Thank you once again, god bless!
Great work Pawan and thank you for sharing with everyone! I'm glad you were able to figure out how to get your money back.
I just received something in the mail saying San Diego Gas & Electric owes me over $200. Is it worth looking into through the company. They say if I fill out the form they will send instructions on retrieving the money. Thanks in advance.
Jessica, thank you for your question. What I would do FIRST is to look up your name on the California unclaimed property website and see if you have money from the San Diego Gas & Electric company there. Make sure to look up your maiden name too if you are married and have changed your last name. I have the websites for every state on my page at: http://www.johnfixesstuff.com/2015/02/unclaimed-property-website-links-for-all-50-states.html Let me know if you find your money there. I'd look for your money first before signing anything. I believe you can get all your money without paying anyone anything.
Most definitely is a SCAM. I received a similar letter AFTER I discovered I had some unclaimed money in California. I had already printed up the forms that I downloaded from the California State Controller website and before I had a chance to sign them and send them away I received the letter from Joseph Richards & Associates. I got a bit suspicious and did some digging around and decided to file complaints on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and BBB. I believe the guy behind the companies associated with Joseph Richard & Associates, and CA license C3091706 are up to no good at all and have probably collected millions from unclaimed properties nation wide. When it catches up with them on a federal level, they will be doing some serous time.
Shonn, thank you for your comment. I really do not believe it is a scam actually. I never received any notification from the State of Colorado that I had unclaimed money sitting around and if it weren't for these guys at Joseph Richards, I would have never known about my money. 80% would have been better than nothing in this case, had I used them to claim this. Lucky for me I was able to figure it out on my own once I'd received the tip from them. My money must have been sitting there for quite some time. Anyway, thanks again for sharing and I wanted to respond to what you shared with my perspective. Take Care.
My ex wife just received this very same letter & I am currently trying to find info, I ran her name through the Great Colorado Payback website but cannot find her name. Any suggestions on the next move?
Were you a resident of Colorado when you received the service from the company listed on their letter? I'd check the unclaimed property website for whatever state you were living in when you received the service. I'm certain these guys are sending these letters to people in all states–I only mention Colorado because that was where I had previously lived when I had SafeCo Insurance.
Success! Although she was not listed on Colorado Payback, I did find her on a Credit Union site & just filled out the paperwork for her to get full payment without the service charge! Thanks for the info on here, it was a great start!! 😉
Great News! Good work Steve, thanks for sharing!
I received an almost identical letter in the mail today. It claimes an old (24 years ago) employer owes me money. The address in the box in the upper right corner of the letter is indeed my address at the time of my employment. So, I searched the Colorado Sec of State website and MissingMoney.com…nothing. My fear is that if I sign this release form, Joseph Richards & Assoc will keep the fund (if there are such funds). Any advice??
Shana, did you check the state where you lived when you worked there? I share about checking Colorado because that was where I was living when I had that insurance. Alternatively, have you checked the state where the company was headquartered (if it was different from the state you worked)? From what I understand–if you sign the form you will still get the check directly but you'll just receive a bill from Joseph Richards.
I I too got the same letter in the mail, however I called the company that owed me money instead of the Payne Richards and Associates, and they happily refunded me with a new check to my current mailing address. It was from almost 4 years ago. My suggestion is to notify the company that owes money and see if you can work it out with them, rather than Payne and Associates. I was told from Payne and Richards it was a government entity holding my money. Interesting I thought!
Thanks Amanda for sharing. I too called the company listed on the letter but they told me they knew nothing about it and it was only when I contacted the state of Colorado that I found mine. It seems like there are multiple different scenarios that could have occurred for you to get one of these letters. I'd check your state too though, there may be more money out there!
The state form is asking for my SS #= that makes me nervous. ?
The State of Colorado form I had to fill out required me to give my social security number too. As long as you get the form from your state's website you should be fine.
Thank you, John and for all those who have posted here. I received a similar letter and was wondering about what to do until I read your post. I followed all your advices and went on the state's website, and sure enough, there was my money and all the information I needed to make the claim, which is FREE!
One thing that caught my eye when following the claiming procedure on the California State Controller's Office website. It says:
"The State Controller's Office has received complaints from the public about emails received from individuals who claim to work for the State Controller. The emails instruct the recipient to contact a private attorney for assistance in recovering their lost and abandoned property… The State Controller DOES NOT send out unsolicited emails about unclaimed property, nor would he refer individuals to a private attorney. It is a violation of state law for individuals and companies to falsely identify themselves as representing a state official. If you receive similar solicitations, please forward them to the Controller's office …. so the Controller's legal office can pursue appropriate action. The Controller strongly recommends that you not respond to these false solicitations, as the senders are seeking personal information and will charge fees for recovering property that you can obtain for free…."
My concern is for those who are like me in the past (before I read your post) or for those who are unfamiliar with the internet (to read the posts like what John did here). If it's just the service charge fee that they got from you, it would still be OK but what if they are after for is your personal information? What are they going to do with that? Also, if a private firm/company can lie to you about what you can do by yourself for absolutely free, what else won't they do to you?
Thanks for sharing Christina. I don't think Joseph Richards & Associates is a scam and they actually contacted me about my blog post once in relation to an article I had linked. They are providing a service and for that service they are charging. I wouldn't have known about my money if they hadn't contacted me but I was able to figure it out from there. I'm glad you were able to track yours down too!
Thanks for this post; my wife got a letter like this and I thought it was a scam too. I checked it out online first and found this post, so I did a search for "{state} unclaimed property" and quickly got to a list of her unclaimed property, along with instructions on how to claim it.
Hey Daniel, glad to hear that–thanks for letting me know. I sat on my letter for a while and was about to send it in honestly and then my wife made a comment to me that made me rethink it and that's when I had the idea to search the unclaimed property in a former state I lived in and the rest is history. Take care and put that money in SAVINGS!!! 🙂
I got the same letter. Claimed my money directly through the state FOR FREE…after they found out I received my money they sent me an INVOICE saying that I electronically signed a contract to give them 10% of my unclaimed money as a finder's fee. I definitely never signed anything and I'm definitely not paying them a finder's fee. THIS COMPANY LIES AND SCAMS HONEST HARDWORKING AMERICANS OUT OF THEIR OWN HARD-EARNED MONEY. (sentence redacted by website administrator)
I don't know anything about that website but it sounds commercial. The deal is that if you have unclaimed money you don't need anyone's help to get it–search for your state's unclaimed money website and search for your name there. What state do you think you may have unclaimed money in?
If you received a letter, IT’S LEGIT!! I received a letter about unclaimed money from WesternUnion a couple months ago, from Payne Richards. I thought it was a scam too, but then why were they only wanting 10%, and it’s from money I didn’t know existed, so I read some comments. Others had the same circumstances and it sounded legit. But before contacting them, which I later did, I checked unclaimed property in my state, and there it was. I filed right at two months ago and received my $917.31 check from the state comptroller yesterday. Although I saved the 10% from not going through Payne Richards, it was the letter THEY sent me that brought this to my attention.
Thanks for sharing Mark, that was my experience as well. –John