How to find anything
Lost Items & Accounts: Search Guides
Get back what's yours: forgotten money, and a phone you've misplaced. Official unclaimed-money databases are free, and your phone's own account can locate it. You rarely need to pay anyone.
To get back what's yours, use the official route. It's usually free, and you rarely need a paid shortcut. Governments run free databases of unclaimed money, and phone makers build location tools into their accounts. Be wary of anyone who asks for a fee to find money held in your name.
Guides
What to try first
- Search the official unclaimed-money database for every state, province or country you've lived in, under every name you've used.
- In the UK, use My Lost Account for old bank, building society and NS&I accounts.
- For a lost phone, sign in to its account from another device: Find My for an iPhone, or Google's device finder for Android.
- If the phone was stolen, report it to the police rather than trying to get it back yourself.
Which guide do I need?
- You think you have money in an old account or uncashed cheque: How to Find Unclaimed Money in Your Name. MissingMoney in the US, and the official services in Canada and the UK.
- A relative died and may have left unclaimed money: How to Find Unclaimed Money in Your Name. Searching for an estate, and what the official offices ask for.
- You've misplaced your phone: How to Find a Lost or Stolen Phone. Locating, ringing and locking it from another device.
- Your phone was stolen: How to Find a Lost or Stolen Phone. When to erase it, and reporting it to the police.
- You got a message saying money is waiting for you: How to Find Out Who Owns a Phone Number. This is a common scam; see how to check and report it.
Coming next
We're writing these next. They'll appear here once they're checked:
- How to recover a locked email account
- How to recover an old social media account