As a kid in Gifford, we only had a few hours to trick or treat, and my friends and I would dash around town to collect as much candy as possible. We would start off in a sprint that would definitely slow as the night wore on and our bags grew heavier.

We made sure not to miss the houses of the two nice ladies who put extra time and effort into the holiday. One gave out homemade donuts, and the other made popcorn balls. Though neither was prepackaged, I grew up in a small town where we knew most of our neighbors. I never worried about anyone playing any tricks on me.

When my daughter got to be too old to go door to door with her dad, I switched to staying at home and giving out candy. Now, a perfect night is when there is just enough candy for all of the kids, but the last trick-ortreater at my door takes the last piece. I don’t need temptations lying around the house for weeks afterward.

As a parent and Star Wars fan, my favorite Halloween was when Ella told me she wanted to go as Princess Leia. I told her that, unfortunately, I would have to work that night and she would have to go with her mother. The surprise and joy on her face when I showed up right before trick or treating dressed as Darth Vader was the greatest Halloween treat I have ever received. The second photo is from a few years later, and by then, Ella had joined me on the Dark Side.

Overseeing our missing money program is a little like Halloween, but 365 days a year. We don’t have treats for everyone who checks our website, but ours are usually much more valuable than a Snickers or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Halloween isn’t the only time you have to watch out for tricks. We find companies that employ a lot of tricks to hold onto money that doesn’t belong to them. I want to tell you about one of those tricks today.

We have all seen offers for deals of money off at purchase. Sometimes to get that money, you have to fill out a form, mail it along with a receipt, and wait to cash your rebate check. This never made sense to me. If business is supposed to be efficient, then wouldn’t it be more efficient to just give me my discount at the register and not have to deal with all of this paperwork?

The first trick is that they will stuff your receipt along with the claim form into the bag with your shiny new item. They know that many people won’t submit for their rebate when they get home because they will be too busy playing with their new phone or getting caught up in life’s demands. If you got distracted and never mailed your claim, I can’t help you get your money.

The second trick is that often the rebate forms are really small, and when someone with the company receives the completed form that small 3 you wrote might be transcribed as an 8. Or the 7 might become a 1, and then your check is mailed to the wrong address. We might be able to help you get your money in that case.

The third and sneakiest trick is that the company might outsource the rebate check processing to a third party. You fill out forms legibly, mail them back, and then wait for your check. You look for weeks for an envelope from that store and eventually forget about it or give up hope.

The check probably arrived, but it came from the generically named company they outsourced the processing to. When you saw a piece of mail from ABC World Corp. or 123 Express Services, you likely assumed it was junk mail and threw it away without opening and never even saw your check.

It doesn’t make financial sense to hire a lawyer to get your money, and often the amount is small enough that you think it is not worth your time to follow up with the store. But as Illinois treasurer, I get to fight on behalf of all the consumers of the state to get the money that is owed to them.

We have won lawsuits for millions of dollars for Illinois customers. So even though you may keep track of the money you have received, maybe there is money for you out there that you never saw. You can check at our website.

This Halloween, I planned to give out candy to kids in my neighborhood, but I would really like to return more money to people throughout our state. If you check my website, I can’t promise you that you will find a treat, but I can promise you that there will be no tricks.