Any interested correspondents will remember that I reported Rewards Now, Highcreditscore and quickcreditscore to this service, and included accounts of others caught out by the sharp practices of these Edgware outfits. I have finally received a response, and to call it unsatisfactory would be an understatement. The FO say they will not deal with it...

'because we can only consider complaints about activities or services provided by firms that are regulated by the Financial Services Authority or that have agreed voluntaily to be covered by the [Ombudsman] or services provided by businesses that are licensed by the OFT for Consumer Credit purposes. Unfortunately [these three companies] do not belong to this group according to our database.'

So there we have it. What amounts to a voluntary code for companies and a Pontius Pilate shrug of the shoulders from the regulators. It them over a month to tell me that the companies I had first written about and concerning which I'd then been sent and returned a detailed form fell outside their jurisdiction.

It is no wonder that shark companies like this are thriving if this is the kind of impotence one is faced with - by the very authorities that consumers would naturally look to for help: Rewards Now & co must be laughing all the way to the bank accounts they keep robbing, given the FO's demonstable toothlessness.

I will, as someone mentioned, try to raise the matter with Consumer Watchdog (and would encourage others to do the same, rather than wasting their time with this 'service'), but, really, it is no wonder that this kind of sorry tale continues. Monitor your bank accounts continuously, watch your computer interface and don't let these characters steal from you. Nobody else will help.

Farfrae