(Part 1 of 2)

In May 2007, Illinois State Treasurer State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias announced that the state's "Cash Dash" program currently holds nearly $1.4 Billion in Illinois unclaimed money. The only thing getting between the cash and its true owners is the knowledge that it's out there and the ability to track it down.

Sadly beyond just Illinois, state treasury departments across the country keep on taking in more unclaimed money each year than they return to the citizens. Due to the fact that everyone believes in the old "if it's too good to be true" saying, most people refuse to believe that there are really tens of billions of dollars waiting to be claimed nationwide. Even for the handful who have learned the truth about unclaimed assets, the best way to track these monies down eludes them most of the time.

The Prairie is State is one of those rare states that is holding over a billion dollars on its own, and that means that if you're a resident of Illinois then you have even greater odds of tracking down a claim in your name, especially when you factor in that the state has just under 13 million people and there are over 10 million names on the state's Illinois list.

(to be continued)

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Is the state holding on to money that belongs to you? – Orlando Sentinel
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Finding "lost" money is easier – AZCentral.com
It's tantalizing—the idea that you could have money that's sitting around just waiting for you to claim. There are, in fact, almost $33 billion in unclaimed assets being held by states and other agencies …

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You could have money waiting for you
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Does the IRS Owe You Money? – Seattle Post Intelligencer
The Internal Revenue Service may have money for you. Was your income below the limit that requires you to file a tax return? If so, you may still be due a refund. Both unclaimed refunds and undeliverable refunds are …