There are billions of dollars sitting in official government databases right now. Forgotten deposits, old refunds, uncashed checks, all waiting for the right person to claim them. About 1 in 7 people has some. Here's how to have ChatGPT or Claude find yours, for free, in about ten minutes.
Where To Run It
The plan · 4 steps
- 1Prompt 1: search every official database under every name and place.
- 2Prompt 2: check old 401(k)s, tax refunds and settlements.
- 3Turn on the browser in ChatGPT or Claude.
- 4Prompt 3: start the claims. You type your SSN or ID yourself.
Before you start
Your app
ChatGPT or Claude. Prompts 1 and 2 work on any plan. The claiming step uses a browser: ChatGPT Work or Claude in Chrome (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise).
Your details
Your full name, any past or maiden names, every place you've lived, and your past employers.
Your first goal
One claim started today.
In ChatGPT, open a new chat and choose Work with the Chat / Work switch at the top. That's the mode that can search the web and, later, use a browser to help you file. Work is on every paid plan, and Free and Go get limited Work in the desktop app.
In Claude, just start a new chat. It searches the web on its own.
Keep all three prompts in that one chat, so each step builds on what it already found.
Maverick's tip
It costs $0 to search and claim, and the search takes about ten minutes. Searching for and claiming your own money is always free on the official sites.
Step 1, Search For Your Money
Start here. This has ChatGPT or Claude search the official unclaimed property databases for anything listed under your name, across every state or region you've ever lived in.
Search my state's and my country's official unclaimed property databases for money listed under my name, and check every state I've ever lived in too. Use official sources (like MissingMoney.com and each state's treasury site). My name is [FULL NAME] (also check [MAIDEN NAME / PAST NAMES]). I've lived in [LIST EVERY STATE / PLACE]. For anything you find, give me the source, the amount if it's shown, and the link to start the claim.
What happens next: it searches the real government databases (forgotten deposits, old refunds, uncashed checks) and comes back with anything sitting under your name. Even a small hit is money that was already yours.
Maverick's tip
Why the names and places matter. Unclaimed property is filed by name and location. An old address, a maiden name or a middle initial can be the difference between a match and a miss. Give it every version of your name and every place you've lived.
Not in the US? Almost every country runs its own official unclaimed-money service. Just ask it to "find my country's official unclaimed money or dormant accounts service and search it under my name." Same idea, same free money, wherever you are.
The Places Everyone Forgets
Unclaimed property is just the start. There are whole other pots of money people leave behind. Stay in the same chat and run this.
Now check the places everyone forgets. Look for: old 401(k)s or pensions from past jobs, unclaimed tax refunds, and any class-action settlements I might qualify for. My past employers were: [LIST]. Point me to the official tool to search for each one, tell me what I likely qualify for, and exactly how to claim anything I'm owed.
What happens next: it sweeps the sources most people never think to check and tells you where to look and how to claim.
| The source | What it is |
|---|---|
| Old 401(k)s and pensions | Retirement money left at jobs you've moved on from, tracked in official retirement-benefit databases. |
| Unclaimed tax refunds | Refunds the tax authority couldn't deliver, checked through the official tax agency. |
| Class-action settlements | Payouts from cases against companies you've used, filed through the official settlement sites. |
Maverick's tip
For class actions especially, you often just have to have been a customer of a company during a certain window, no receipts needed. Have it list the open ones you plausibly qualify for and the claim deadlines.
Money owed to you by people and companies, like unreturned deposits and refunds, is a whole other hunt. My Find Money You're Owed guide covers it.
Start the Claims in Your Browser
Now the payoff. With a browser, ChatGPT or Claude opens the official sites and starts filling out the claims for you. Turn the browser on first.
In ChatGPT
Stay in your Work chat. On chatgpt.com, Work opens its own cloud browser when it needs one (paid plans). In the desktop app, start the prompt with @Browser to use the built-in browser.
In Claude
Claude in Chrome needs a paid plan (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise) and Chrome on a computer.
- Install the extension. In the Chrome Web Store, search for Claude in Chrome, click Add to Chrome and sign in with your Claude account.
- Switch it on in Claude. On the left, go to Customize, then Connectors. Find Claude in Chrome, click Configure and switch it on.
- Turn it on for this chat. Open the + menu next to the message box, go to Connectors and turn on Claude in Chrome. It's off in every new chat, and this is the part most people miss.
Full setup and troubleshooting: my Claude in Chrome setup guide.
Then paste this
Use your browser to go to the official sites for what we found and start the claims for me. Fill in the parts you can, my name, my addresses, and the property details, and walk me through each one, one at a time. Stop at anything that needs my Social Security number, my ID, or my signature, and tell me exactly what to enter and submit myself.
What happens next: it fills in the basic details on each official site. For simple claims, that's most of the form done for you.
Heads up: How claiming really works. A claim proves you're you before the government hands over money, so it needs identity verification: your details, sometimes your Social Security number or ID, and often a signature or a mailed form. The AI fills the easy parts, but YOU type any sensitive ID info and hit submit yourself. Never let any AI or website enter your SSN or ID for you. And some claims pay out online in minutes, but many are reviewed and paid by check a few weeks later.
Maverick's tip
Do the biggest, simplest claims first. A claim in your current state is often the fastest win. Save the mailed ones for when you can print and sign.
Yes, This Is Real (And the One Scam To Never Fall For)
It sounds too good to be true, but it isn't. When a bank account goes dormant, a refund check never gets cashed, a utility deposit is forgotten, or an old paycheck goes uncollected, that money doesn't vanish. By law it gets handed over to the government and held for you, sometimes for years. It's called unclaimed property, the databases are public, official and free to search, and almost nobody checks.
That's exactly why scammers love this topic.
Heads up: Never pay a fee to claim your own money. If a website, a caller or a text wants an upfront fee, a percentage, or your bank login to "release" money that's yours, stop. It's either a scam or an unnecessary middleman taking a cut of your own cash. The real government sites never charge you to claim what you're owed.
Stay on the official path
Use only the official sites: your state or country's treasury or unclaimed-property office, and MissingMoney.com, the free multi-state search that most states take part in (unclaimed.org links to every state's official program). If you get a text or email saying "we found your money, click here," don't click it. Go to the official site yourself and search.
Got a message like that? Paste it in and check:
I got this message about unclaimed money: [PASTE THE MESSAGE]. Is it from an official government source or a scam? Tell me the official site for my state's unclaimed property program so I can search there myself instead of clicking anything in this message.
Maverick's tip
A good rule of thumb. Real unclaimed money costs you nothing to claim but a little paperwork. Anyone asking for money, gift cards or passwords to give you money is running the scam.
Common Mistakes and Quick Fixes
| If this happens | Try this |
|---|---|
| It found nothing under your name | Add every version of your name (maiden name, middle initial) and every state you've ever lived in, then run it again. |
| ChatGPT described the claim instead of opening a site | Chat has no browser. Use a Work chat, or start the prompt with @Browser in the desktop app. |
| Claude wrote an answer instead of opening Chrome | Open the + menu, go to Connectors and turn on Claude in Chrome. Still nothing? Click the extension icon in Chrome and check you're signed in. |
| You're on a free plan | Prompts 1 and 2 still work. Click the claim links it gives you and fill the forms in yourself. |
| A form asks for your SSN or ID | That's normal for a claim. You type it yourself, never the AI. |
| A claim needs a mailed form | Print, sign and mail it. These take a few weeks, so do the online ones first. |
| A site wants a fee to "release" your money | Stop. It's a scam or a middleman. Claiming on the official site is always free. |
| You got a "we found your money" text | Don't click. Run the scam check prompt and search the official site yourself. |
| You're not in the US | Ask for your country's official unclaimed money or dormant accounts service and search that. |
Quick Reference: The One-Page Cheat Sheet
The whole thing, in order. Screenshot this and run it on your whole family.
| Step | What to paste or do |
|---|---|
| 1. Search | Search the official unclaimed property databases (like MissingMoney.com and each state's treasury) for money under my name. Name: [NAME + PAST NAMES]. Places I've lived: [LIST]. Give me each find, the amount and the claim link. |
| 2. The forgotten sources | Now check old 401(k)s from past jobs [LIST EMPLOYERS], unclaimed tax refunds and class-action settlements I might qualify for. Show me the official tool for each and how to claim. |
| Browser | ChatGPT: a Work chat (@Browser in the desktop app). Claude: Claude in Chrome on in Customize > Connectors and in the chat's + menu. |
| 3. Claim | Use your browser to open the official sites and start the claims, filling what you can. Stop at anything needing my SSN, ID or signature and tell me what to enter myself. |
The rules that keep it safe
- It's always free. Never pay to claim your own money.
- Use only official sites.
- You type any SSN or ID yourself, never an AI.
- Some claims pay in minutes, most in a few weeks.
DO THIS TODAY
Run the search prompt with all your names and old addresses, then the forgotten-sources prompt. Start the easiest claim in your browser. Then run the whole thing again for your parents or grandparents tonight. They almost certainly have something.
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