J & L Research contacted me out of the blue. They do pretty much what appears in the photocopied press article. My unclaimed assets were shares belonging to my grandfather who had died as had my father. The firm found me because my acting as executor to my father's will was public information. The shares and the documents must somehow have been lost over the years and so were not dealt with as part of my dead relatives estates. I guess that's quite often the case. Apparently loads of such shares are lying about gathering dust. Mr Stern seems to make a good living making people happy. Oh that I had such a job! I was initially as sceptical as you are, but I phoned up Mr Stern and he seemed okay. I also did an internet check on his post code and he appeared on the electoral register as living at his address - this reassured me that it was not some racket from a foreign based firm. He gets info about shares that have lain dormant for some time and then does a bit of detective work to track down the real "owners". I agreed over the phone for him to get 20% of whatever he recovered and he was okay telling me how much the shares were worth. He does all the work, getting me to sign a couple of letters. The checks came in 2 lots, all made out to me personally although some of them went to his address, he then forwarded them on to me. I found nothing at all [problem]-like about the whole thing, in face I and my sister made over £5k each after Mr Stern had been paid his 20%. At no time did he ask me to give him any personal details that I didn't want to, certainly no bank info or anything obviously dubious. I would honestly reassure you. I suggest you phone him and ask him some direct questions - like how much the assets are worth. He was happy for me to agree verbally to his request for 20% commission and even admitted that I would not legally have to pay him a penny - a gentleman's agreement i think, I did pay him though - without him I would be £5k poorer. I will e-mail you directly if you wish to leave your e-mail address on this forum

J & L Research proved to be an absolutely genuine business, I was reunited with several thousands of pounds that I never knew even existed. If anyone else gets a letter out of the blue from John Stern - open the bubbly!

No money up front, just a non lejgally binging verbal agreement from me to give 20% of the unclaimed assett to J & L when the dosh arrives. I have checked out the guy's address and he does live there with wife and kid. If its a [problem] I can't work out what it is since there has been no request for any opersonal info, and no request for money. Appproach came by snail mali so its not internet [problem]. I would be grateful for any info though.

Has anyone heard of this company. They have written to me recently, indicating that relatives who died some time ago were the owners of shares, and that I can get £000's etc. Doing a bit of research indicates that there are firms who do work of this sort. The approach was by post (nor e-mail). There is no trace of the company via Google or of the name of the Director - John Stern.