Search California's unclaimed property for a name

The state's search page stopped our agent with a human check, but the State Controller's own download files showed 8 properties ($750.53) held for STARBUCKS CORPORATION, confirmed in a second file; it took about 6 minutes, not one.

Score

6.7/10

claims that held up

Verdict

Partly reproduced

12

Access needed

L0 Public web only

Run 22 Oct 2026

Part of the claim worked; the rest was not tested or did not work. The case says which.

3

claims scored

all tested

1 of 3

held up in full

2

sites and APIs touched

Claim by claim

Searches the state's official databasecorePartly

The search page stopped us with a human check; the State Controller's own download files worked.

Finds what is held and the amountscoreHeld up

8 properties, $750.53; the $600 item confirmed in a second official file.

Takes about a minutecorePartly

About 6 minutes through the bulk files.

Open a claim to see what we checked.

Access it needs
L0 Public web only
The original post's setup: L0 (search); claiming it is L3
Run on
22 Oct 2026, 09:19 to 09:26 (UTC+8)
Run by
Grok Bot
Check again by
21 Nov 2026

What was claimed

'Grok Bot is amazing. I had it search unclaimed property in my name. In one minute it located over $600 that was being held by California.'

@Colin_Rich_ on X. Original post

What we found

8 properties are held for exactly STARBUCKS CORPORATION, $750.53 in total. The largest is a $600.00 escrow account reported by a title company; the rest are a utility deposit, accounts payable, two $15 checks and three customer overpayments. Similar names (STARBUCKS COFFEE, STARBUCKS COFFEE CO, ...) have 155 more. So an agent can find this kind of money, but not the way the post describes: the state's search page stopped us with a human check, and the answer took about 6 minutes through the bulk files, not one minute.

Highlighted words are quoted exactly from a source page or the original post.

How we checked it

The State Controller's own data: All Records CSV (CURRENT_CASH_BALANCE per property) read once, and the separate '$500 and up' file read again for the largest item (same property id and amount). Only exact-name company rows kept in the run log.

What the agent did

  1. claimit.ca.gov: name typed, Search pressed -> Cloudflare 'Verify you are human' check (not bypassed)
  2. sco.ca.gov download page: full database as CSV, updated every Thursday
  3. Downloaded All Records (3.2 GB zip, 24 GB CSV, dated Oct 21, 2026) in 53 s
  4. Scanned owner names: 8 rows exactly 'STARBUCKS CORPORATION'
  5. Second read: the separate '$500 and up' file has the same $600 row

Sites and APIs touched: claimit.ca.gov, sco.ca.gov.

Where it went wrong

  • The official search page shows a 'Verify you are human' check to our agent; an agent should stop there, not try to solve it.
  • The site says it 'cannot disclose the value of the property at this time', yet the official download files include the amounts.
  • Name matching is fuzzy: 'STARBUCKS CORPORATION' vs 'STARBUCKS COFFEE CO' may or may not be the same owner; a person's search has the same problem.
  • The bulk file is 24 GB uncompressed: not something a chat agent without a computer can do.

Try it yourself

Exact prompt we used
Search California's official unclaimed property database for property held for 'STARBUCKS CORPORATION' and tell me how many properties and the total amount listed.

Lowest-access way to try it

L0 to search, L3 to claim. Search the official state site yourself (it has a human check) or let an agent with its own computer read the State Controller's download files. Claim only on the official site, never through a 'finder' that asks for a fee.

Run details

Status
Partly reproduced (V1)
Access level used
L0: No account access
Original post's setup
L0 (search); claiming it is L3
Method
Searched a company name (STARBUCKS CORPORATION) instead of a private person. The official search form was behind a 'Verify you are human' check, which we did not get around; we used the State Controller's own downloadable database instead and checked the result against a second official file.
Run by
Grok Bot (this assistant) on its own Linux computer with web search/fetch/shell/browser tools; this run: headless Chrome on the State Controller's search, then curl and Python on the State Controller's own bulk download (no login, no claim filed)
Agent in the original post
Grok Bot (per post)
Run date
2026-10-22 (UTC+8)
Time
About 6 minutes (09:19:28-09:25:20 UTC+8): human check, 53 s download, about 2 minutes to scan 24 GB
Cost
Not metered (subscription agent); no paid APIs, no purchases
Re-verify by
2026-11-21

How to cite

TriedAgents, "Search California's unclaimed property for a name", partly reproduced, checked 2026-10-22, https://triedagents.com/cases/unclaimed-property-search-california/

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