I received a letter in the mail from a retirement company I've never heard of regarding an address change. The new address is not my address nor is it a state I have ever lived in. It's actually a strip mall, per google. Oh, and I've never worked for the company under the plan name. I thought it was a mistake, so I called the retirement company. The SSN (which I only gave them the last four digits of -- because, let's face it, this is weird) matches my name. And they are using my full name and it is spelled correctly. My full first name and last name are uncommon. However, the birthdate I gave them does not match the account, but he would not tell me if I was even close. He said I had to fill out a Personal Information Change Request, which looks legit but asks a lot of questions, enough to buy a house if you know what I mean. Only then will they tell me anything about the account, such as, is there any money in it?
I'm nervous to fill out the request because this is all too weird. I had done some initial researching but did not get anywhere. The retirement company looks legit (Empower Retirement out of Denver) and the employer looks legit (Altran USA). I looked for phishing schemes, even, and nothing. So, I looked deeper into Altran USA and one of their subsidiaries is in a state I used to live in and I noticed they did some work that I used to do for a company I worked at in the same state. So, I thought, maybe they were bought?
I nearly hurt myself trying to remember the name of the company I worked for in 1999 for three months or so (the company I worked for prior approached me with a new job, so I went back), and pulled it up. I googled whether they were bought out by Altran or the subsidiary and I didn't get a thing. Since I was on the site, I was looking to see if anyone was still there that I recognized, and saw a link to Partner Companies, clicked on it, and there is Altran.
So, that must be the link!
And why have I never received anything pertaining to this 401k account? My guess is that there is no money in it, otherwise, I would have received statements each year, at least. And, ironically, in the mail today the retirement company sent me ten pages of updated information for the plan. Nothing for over 15 years and suddenly I'm getting mail every week?
I'm still suspicious so I'm not feeling very secure filling out the information they sent...
Since I work for the USPS, I see this kind of stuff all of the time. The very first thing I look at is this: was it sent First Class, or is it Bulk/Standard/Non-Profit postage? First Class adds a bit of legitimacy to the sender, but isn't a guarantee that it's not some sales pitch. You were smart to do some research, but I'd go with the gut feeling and stay clear of this.
I called the retirement company back and got someone else. I verified the information, but again the birthdate was wrong. He could not tell me what it was but said it was a serious typo (like maybe I was born 120 years ago or earlier this year) and kinda laughed. Long story short, I said I was uncomfortable filling out the paperwork and was it even worth it for me to deal with it? He said he could not tell me if there was any money in the account, but said that based on how long I worked at the company, he could tell me that I'd have to be there for a year for the account to have any money in it and added, "if you know what I mean". No real explanation about why I am suddenly getting mail, but he said it's not uncommon if they were scrubbing data.
Mystery solved!
Glad you solved the mystery. But it does sound very suspicious.
Assuming Altran looks like a valid company if you research them, I would call their main number, ask to talk to someone in HR then explain the situation. They should at least be able to confirm that Empower Retirement out of Denver is calling former employees (or employees of companies they may have bought out).
Maybe the birthdate they have for you indicates that you're finally old enough to be accessing a retirement and that's why it was sent...assuming that it's legit, that is.
Empower is a for real 401k company. It's part of Great West Retirement.
It could be for real. I've got a similar situation going on right now with long lost clients. I agree you should check it out.
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