scam letter

[Patrick---Joy0]

SCAM ALERT: Received a letter from 'airbnb Unclaimed Property' with a blank form for us to fill out to received a check for unclaimed property. Address to mail our personal information was airbnb Unclaimed Property, PO Box 1448, Southeastern PA 19399. In the upper left-hand corner has the same address. Contact number 1-877-455-4746

I wish I can post the picture of the letter here but I don't know how to do that.

[Jacklin0]

Yes, you are definitely right, they send this latter to most of the Airbnb accounts and they are waiting for people to fall into their trap. 

[John2301]

It’s not always a scam. I got the same letter and found the same amounts still processing from 5 years ago, when I switched payout accounts. Check the transaction records under “Upcoming Payouts”

[Jacklin0]

I received the same letter. These MF are F scammers. So frustrated. God knows how many people got scared and contacted with these MF 

[Steve143]

Hello @Patrick---Joy0, @Beki-And-Mike0,

PrI'm presuming  that both your letters say the same thing.

One question springs to mind. It says "... you appear to be the owner of the unclaimed property identified above".

Do you recognise the property as yours?

If not, then the letter doesn't apply to you. Even if it is yours but you have forgotten owning it, and if the letter is genuine, the worst that can happen is that ownership of it will eventually be transferred to the state.

Steve.

[Matthew285]

@Patrick---Joy0, @Elena87, @Andrea1151, @Beki-And-Mike0, these letters can be legitimate. (It is amusing but a bit sad that whenever we see anything unusual, we immediately yell SCAM in all caps.)

Californa does have an unclaimed property law: https://sco.ca.gov/upd.html

If a company finds it cannot deliver property (in this case, some money) to a person, there is a procedure they are supposed to follow. (The letter might be part of that.)

If after a certain amount of time they still cannot deliver the property to the owner, the property (money) is turned over to the State of California. And the State of California gets some free money.

While I cannot guarantee that any given letter is legitimate, this type of letter is indeed used in a proper, legitimate procedure. I have received similar letters from companies that I had a security deposit with and had forgotten about. I filled them out and received the money. At no time did they ask me for money.

If you fill out and return the form, you might get $427.00 sent to you.

Obviously, if they request you to sent THEM any money, do not.

[Matthew285]

I forgot one thing: Obviously, if you did not do any business with the company that sent you the letter, it is not legitimate. Or, if you did do business with them, but not in the time period referenced in the letter, then it is not legitimate.

[Clare0]

@Matthew285. You are correct.  I worked for a bank for many years and the procedure is for a company to try to contact a person if they are holding onto property that is about to escheat (turned over to the state).  If the company does not get a response to the notification, the company is required to turn over the property to the state where it sits until it is claimed.  

This happens with safe deposit boxes / accounts that have been inactive for 7 years.  It may be different now as I worked at a bank many years ago.   

This letter looks legitimate to me!

[Bonnie170]

Hey, I received the same letter today for the same amount of money ($427.). The date December 2, 2017 is so old I can't remember what was happening at my airbnb. So, where do they benefit sending this out and how would it hurt me to respond? Thanks. Bonnie

[Edwin57]

In this case is always good to lean, one different states have different laws and regulations and so on it's good to be cautious is nothing wrong to be safe thank for sharing 

[Franky6]

Gladly I found this thread, I just recieved that same letter but this time is from Just Energy, my old old Energy company. It has the same layout, I thought it's pretty legit. Thank God for posting like this

[Brent94]

I just received the same letter, using the same address (P.O. Box 1448 southeastern PA) for Synchrony Financial. Thanks for helping me identify this as a SCAM!

[Katy167]

I got one too only mine was from Gap.  I checked with Synchrony using a phone number I got from the internet and they aren't at that address.  I also checked with Gap and they don't work that way.  I even checked my bank and there is no check writtne for that amount to Gap at that time.  Thanks for posting the letter so I could see for sure. 

[Bebe11]

I just received same letter but from JCPENNY SYNCHRONY bank in heading . 

[Edwin143]

I received the same letter from Synchrony regarding a LOWES'S account. What about the person earlier in this thread who said they returned the form, and then later received the CHECKS mentioned in the form??

[Rob537]

this is easy to verify if it is legitimate (and most are). Every state's controllers office has their unclaimed property database available on their website (as this is required by federal law) and can be searched by citizens for property belonging to them. The only required search field is a last name or business entity. It will list every unknown property in that name with a property ID and last known address and more (details published vary by state) as well as how to recover the funds. If the property has not been escheated to the state (a requirement by the state after 3 years of dormancy) then you can only recover the $ by contacting the holding company (business currently in possession) and their contact info will be listed. If it has been escheated (the state has possession) then you usually have an option to file electronically with the state or if not, through regular mail.