Those Nifty Postcards Offering $$$$

Let’s see. This week brought nifty offers to claim money on my behalf from Unclaimed Funds Retrieval, L.L.C. ($1,605.49), Financial Services Group L.L.C. ($1,805.01), and Karyn A. Ward, CPA ($3,207.75). Unclaimed Funds Retrieval in Irving is run by one Johel A. Contreras, according to the Texas Secretary of State. Financial Services Group, L.L.C. is run by Vyacheslav Alaytsev. And, yes, Karyn A. Ward is indeed a CPA.

The deal here is simple. The senders promise you “unclaimed money.” In fact, they get you to come into their offices so they can sign you up to represent you at the appraisal district to reduce your property taxes. In reality, unlike real property tax consultants they send out postcards because anyone who responds to a postcard is likely to be gullible. Vyacheslav had at least one customer sign forms that gave Vyacheslav 100 percent of any savings. The fact is, any citizen can go down to the Appraisal District office and pretty much be assured of getting a 10 percent reduction just by showing up.

One more note: For all I know, Karyn A. Ward is the best CPA on the planet. I don’t like painting her with the same brush as I’m swiping over Johel and Vyacheslav, but she did it to herself by sending out the same kind of postcards as they do. According to the Texas Society of CPAs, she violated no ethics rule — which only tells me the Texas Society needs to upgrade its ethics rules.