It indeed does seem to be a common theme, and not just here. I was reading in the Marriott forum about people having accounts blocked. There is nearly always something odd going on, for example, one guy funneling millions of Avios from his ill mother's account and AMEX into his - not sure the other children would be too happy with that deal. In this case here, it looks as though the Op has opted to use a dodgy travel agent who trades in miles - I'd never for a moment consider having a TA have access to my account like that, but having seen many of the adverts out there in different forums, I can see why people may get tricked into thinking it's a legit deal and normal way of doing things. I hope the OP gets this resolved, but it could easily be a case of tough luck on this one.