Ray Van Eng (12/12/96)
Try this web site instead: http://www.foundmoney.com. Queries by names are free but you would have to pay a fee to examine details of the account if there is a match. Edward Palonek, president of the Ontario, Canada based Found Money Inc., said that he started the company after his folks died and he tried to contact the bank to dig into his parent's accounts but was told that "(the banks) couldn't look it up without an account number." The money held by banks for such accounts is estimated to be about $20 billion in the United States and Canada. When Palonek did an on-air talk show to raise awareness for the lost fortunes, one out of every seven callers found a match on names that they provide over the air and were on their way to collect the money as a result. Palonek claimed his system have about 17 million names in the database with about $5 billion in assets Besides the Internet, you can also call the company at 1-900-451-3605 from Canada or 1-900-370-2345 from the US. The cost is $9.95 for the first minute and $2.95 per minute thereafter. A live operator is there to help guide you through the process which typically takes about a couple of minutes. |