Elderly Florida woman collects $108K in unclaimed funds after thinking she was getting scammed

Woman receives thousands in unclaimed funds

A woman who thought she was getting scammed actually ended up making thousands of dollars. Kailey Tracy reports.

BRADENTON, Fla. - It seemed like every time 88-year-old Barbara checked her mail, she had another letter from a law firm or a private investigator, all offering to help her claim money they said she was owed, in exchange for part of the proceeds. 

"They did offer money and all I had to do was reply, and I was very suspicious of that, because nobody gives money away," Barbara said.

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The backstory:

She got suspicious and called the Bradenton Police Department last month.

"What Barbara did was brilliant," Detective Jim Curulla of BPD's elder fraud division, said. "Before she acted, she called a trusted source."

In those mail piles, Curulla found a letter from the Florida Department of Financial Services telling her she actually did have money waiting for her – $108,000. 

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"Thirty years ago, she, for a short period of time, worked at a company and had stock options and never claimed those, and obviously they accrued," Curulla said. 

"I was lucky enough to find out before I died," Barbara said. "Wow, it's just amazing."

Dig deeper:

She didn’t need the lawyers’ or private investigators’ help getting the money, though. Curulla helped her check the Florida Division of Unclaimed Property website and fill out the paperwork. 

Not long after, she got her check.

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"It is life-changing, and I honestly still have a problem believing it. I took action to get it in the bank as soon as possible, and they didn't bat an eye. So, I though ‘well, maybe it is, maybe it’s just the best thing that ever happened to me," she said. 

What they're saying:

Barbara said she’s going to put the money towards her grandnephew’s education … and treat her grandchildren.

"I’m going to treat them royally, because they’ve always been wonderful to me," she said.

"I can treat my girlfriend to a spa day. That's true. I can get nails, manis and pedis. I’ve never done that in my life," she said. "My message is don't call me. I'll call you. We don't want a lot of telephone calls, and I'm just thrilled to pieces and so thankful for Jim. He was the calming force and even though he did get a little excited. I wanted to reward him, and he says, ‘no, no I can't do that.'"

Why you should care:

Those attorneys and private investigators who reached out to Barbara are allowed to reach out to people with unclaimed property to help them get that money for a fee. They use Florida public records to get the information. 

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"Typically, we have seniors that lose their life savings and by the time we figure out where it went, it's either gone or it's out of the country. So, this is one of the few situations that it even surprised me. I just figured as I was going through her mail, most of the mail was junk mail or garbage. I didn't think there'd be anything like this. So, this was a pleasant surprise," Curulla said.

You can see if you have unclaimed money at www.fltreasurehunt.gov, and if you do, the website walks you through what to do to get your money.