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My mother-in-law called today to tell me she got a check for more than $300. And it was all because of some time I wasted on the Internet one day.

As usual, I don’t remember what my original purpose was, but in surfing around I came across a site where you could search for unclaimed funds. You may know that if a company is holding funds that belong to you, they eventually turn them over to the state escheat fund. The money may be owed because you did not cash a check that was written to you, or you forgot about a bank account, or are owed money on an old insurance policy or claim, or many other reasons.

The organization that owes you the money, and the state, are supposed to make reasonable efforts to locate you but they often do not. You may see special sections in your newspaper once a year when your state publishes the names of people for whom they are holding funds. But you can take action today to find money that you may be owed.

A warning: There are people who will notify you that you are owed money and ask you to sign papers so that they can claim it for you. They usually take a percentage of your money. A better way is to find out where the money is and file the claim yourself.

Here are some web sites where you can search for your money:

You can start your search at http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Money_Owed.shtml. This is a Federal government web site, and it lists several reasons why the government might owe you money, how to find it, and how to claim it.

After clicking a couple of links from that site, I found http://www.missingmoney.com/. This is where I located the money owed to my mother-in-law. Only 39 states participate in the MissingMoney site, so you may want to check other states individually. You can find links at http://www.unclaimed.org/mainframe.asp?VisitorType=owner. Don’t forget to search in states where you used to live, as well as where you live now.

Along the same lines, do not forget to search under other names you have used, for example your maiden name or your name during a previous marriage.

You can see if you are owed pension funds from a former employer here: https://search.pbgc.gov/mp/mp.aspx.

Did you have an FHA or HUD home loan? If you paid it off early, you may be due a refund of some of your mortgage insurance premiums. Check here to find out: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/comp/refunds/index.cfm.

Happy hunting! Who says that spending time on the Internet is a waste of time?