What Is a Strawman Account and Can You Access It?

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All you need to know about not getting scammed out of your money

Co-authored by Eric McClure Reviewed by Andrew Lokenauth

Last Updated: August 6, 2024 Fact Checked

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What is a master strawman account?

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Can you access your master strawman account?

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Strawman Theory Issues

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Avoiding Strawman Account Scams

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Tips

The strawman account refers to a supposedly well-funded bank account in your name. According to some legal enthusiasts, there are a few tricks you can use to get the government to hand over up to a million dollars to you! But do those tricks require paying someone for help? Not so fast. Before you spend any money on legal help, you need to consult our guide on accessing strawman accounts.

Section 1 of 4:

What is a master strawman account?

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The strawman account is a supposedly secret bank account. According to some US law enthusiasts, every US citizen has two identities: their real living identity and their “fictional” identity on paper, which is the so-called strawman. Per the advocates of this theory, every strawman has an account registered in their name that was funded by the US government.^{[1]
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- The idea is usually that when the US abandoned the gold standard in the 1930s, they replaced the gold backing with the US’s national debt. Divided by each citizen, this usually comes out to $600,000 or so depending on who you ask.
- Different advocates of the strawman theory often have unique explanations or theories about how you actually access the strawman account.

Section 2 of 4:

Can you access your master strawman account?

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No, there’s no such account for you to access. The idea of the strawman account was invented by Rodger Elvick in 1999. He claimed that he had successfully accessed an account in his name that had $630,000 in it, and that he could do the same for others for a small fee. After trying to steal around a million dollars, the scam landed him in prison. These strawman accounts just don’t exist.^{[2]
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- The fact that you can’t lookup your strawman account is a major sign these accounts don’t exist.
- As cool as it would be to have access to an extra few hundred thousand dollars, these accounts just aren’t real. The US government may not always be the most brilliant organization on the planet, but they’re smart enough to not leave money all over the place.

Section 3 of 4:

Strawman Theory Issues

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You can access any account in your name on your own. If a strawman account did exist, you wouldn’t need any special help or fancy paperwork to get into your account. Accounts in your name are yours—you can access them whenever you need them. So, if you actually did have an account with money in it, you’d know and you’d be able to open it.^{[3]
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- Financial institutions are legally required to send you statements periodically. If you never get anything in the mail about this theoretical account, it’s a sign it doesn’t exist.^{[4]
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Nobody can open accounts in your name without consent. Most strawman theory advocates claim your secret account is in your name. The problem is that unless you’re under 18 and your parents set up a custodial account for you, nobody is actually able to open accounts for you without breaking the law.^{[5]
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- If you do have evidence that someone has opened an account using your name, contact the police to file a report for identity theft.
- Do you want a full list of all the accounts in your name? Pull your credit report! Every year you get a free pull at no cost.
We totally get it if this one sounds a little harsh—a lot of the strawman arguments make sense when you really think about it. But unfortunately, there’s no difference between you as a “legal entity” and you as a person—they’re the same thing in the eyes of the law.^{[6]
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The US debt isn’t actually debt in the traditional sense. The entire premise of the strawman account is that US public debt is owned by its citizens. That’s not what the federal debt represents, though. Most of the US debt is in the form of bonds and treasury notes that are sold to other countries. In other words, they’re contracts between the government and other governments—US citizens don’t figure into it at all.
- The government actually “rolls” the debt constantly. It pays for old bonds by issuing new ones. It can do this basically forever, which is why the US national debt keeps getting bigger but nothing bad seems to happen because of it.^{[7]
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- The US government also has a monopoly on the issuance of the US dollar, which means it can print the money it needs to pay the national debt off whenever it wants. The debt actually serves an important role in the global economy though, which is why leaving it in place is beneficial.^{[8]
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Section 4 of 4:

Avoiding Strawman Account Scams

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Don’t pay anyone to file paperwork for you. Unless you’re working directly with a lawyer or licensed accountant, you should never hand money over to anyone to file papers for you. If you don’t want to file taxes on your own, it’s totally fine to hire a CPA, and there are certainly some legal forms that would require a lawyer. Beyond that, you should never fork over money to anyone to prepare documents for you.
- If you’re still unsure about the existence of strawman accounts, we urge you to reach out to a qualified lawyer or registered accountant and ask them.
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Keep your personal information to yourself. Never hand out your social security number, use a different password for all of your sensitive accounts, and turn on two-factor authentication wherever it’s available. Avoid clicking on any suspicious links or opening strange emails, too. All of this will minimize the odds someone steals your identity or scams you out of your hard-earned money.^{[9]
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- If you do suspect someone is stealing your identity, freeze your credit immediately and lock any bank accounts with suspicious activity by reaching out to your bank.
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Reach out to a licensed lawyer for legal questions. Nobody outside of a lawyer is qualified to give you legal advice. It doesn’t matter how confident someone seems or how convicted they are about their cause, if they aren’t a lawyer they can’t help you out with any legal issues.^{[10]
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- You cannot resolve debt or bankruptcy issues without consulting a lawyer. If you can’t afford one, look online for free legal services in your area.

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Tips

US bonds and notes that are issued by the federal government are available for purchase online at Treasury Direct. However, you can also purchase federal bonds through brokerages like Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard.^{[11]
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