State Treasurer David McRae (left) looks on at an unclaimed money event in Jackson County, March 2026 (Photo from McRae's Facebook)
- State Treasurer David McRae said other states that handle unclaimed money should consider similar protections.
Mississippi is gaining recognition in its efforts to put American citizens at the front of the line when reclaiming lost or forgotten funds.
Since last fall, visitors to the unclaimed money portal on the Mississippi State Treasury website have been greeted by a simple question that has an effect on how fast their claim is processed. State Treasurer David McRae (R) said the citizen declaration check box was added to the site last year to ensure Mississippians get priority treatment when reclaiming lost money.
Lost money can typically come from tax refunds, uncashed payroll, old utility accounts that had a balance, forgotten bank accounts, or even wills and life insurance policies.
“We see a lot of college kids and we’re about to have a lot of college kids graduate who have condos or apartments, and they signed up for things and then move,” McRae said. “And it also can come from bank accounts, people move so much these days they just don’t have time to close their bank account.”
McRae added that his staff has returned more than $180 million in unclaimed funds over the past seven years since he took office.
“Mississippi State did a study for us that said that when we give money back to Mississippians, it overturns in the local economy seven times,” McRae explained. “So, for us, it was important to set up the citizenship requirement so that we knew that Mississippians were getting what was rightfully owed to them, and as a result, also, we were making sure that people outside the state and outside the country weren’t trying to steal Mississippian’s money.”
McRae said Mississippi is leading the charge to implement a citizen declaration component to its unclaimed money website, and that effort was mentioned during a recent congressional oversight hearing on fraud.
“We are the first state in the nation to do something like this, and in fact, we are leading the way on this,” said McRae. “And just today, I read that the U.S. Treasury is going to do something similar with verification.”
The State Treasurer noted that the check box provides a level of scam protection from those who may attempt to steal the funds. He believes other states that handle unclaimed funds should consider something similar. McRae knows the next question will be “what stops someone from just clicking yes” even if they are not a citizen.
“We can sniff you out really, really well if you are not who you say you are,” McRae said. “And we are very good at that, so anybody that thinks they can just skate our system, I wouldn’t say it’s not possible, but it is very, very difficult.”
To file a claim to get money back, the potential recipient has to provide several forms of identification.
“You know fraudsters are always going to be creative,” McRae said. “That is the thing. We have a very extensive fraud index database that cross references socials, addresses and several other things that make sure that we’re giving it to the right person, period.”
To accomplish that, the Treasurer’s office uses the services of three fact checking groups to ensure funds go to the rightful owner. McRae said the process has been successful, resulting in very little to no fraud at the State Treasury.
While residents can still request unclaimed money through the old paper trail methods, McRae said that using the more modern online path is not only easier, but results in faster payments.
Depending on the claim, and where the money originates, timeframes vary on how long it takes from the submission of a claim to the receipt of the funds. While funds in old utility accounts can be returned within 10 to 14 business days, wills, probates and bank accounts can take longer, sometimes months. The most complicated claims are those where there may be contention over who actually gets the money, such as with wills involving a family dispute.
“So, if anyone has a non-utility payment, give us a little grace, give us a little time and we will get to it,” McRae said. “We have a small staff, but we always try to be customer-friendly and get everybody what they have submitted.”
