Someone has $1.7 million sitting in a dormant account that is now being held by New York State.
In fact, the state has 31 million unclaimed accounts worth $13 billion.
State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is urging people to visit www.osc.state.ny.us. Millions of people could end up with unexpected windfalls by simply typing in their names and some other identifying information. Of course, not every person with unclaimed funds will feel like a lottery winner.
"Typically, a claim is $50 to $100, but it's not unusual for someone to be owed a few hundred or a few thousand," DiNapoli told WBFO.
The largest sum was paid in 2008 when an individual received more than $4 million from a stock claim.
Most of the time, accounts go unclaimed because people move and banks or other institutions can't find them. That's when the money is turned over to the state. Banks account for about 38 percent of the unclaimed funds, while insurance companies account for 18 percent.
"We've actually processed a million claims through our website," DiNapoli said. "We've really made it very easy for people to get access to this money."
There is no fee to reclaim funds. In a typical year, about 10 million searches for unclaimed funds are conducted on the website.