Writing a blog about online investing is something of a two-edged sword. Like many others who make recommendations I try to validate any programme that I write about. In this way I hope that others who are either new to this form of investing or alternatively have some experience but haven't had much success will learn about ways to receive higher returns on their money.

Clearly, this form of investing does carry with it much higher degrees of risk and the potential for loss can be quite high. In fact it often seems that as soon as a programme appears to be a stayer and it gets featured something happens to it that brings it down.

I mention this as I read mixed reports about A3Union where it is alleged that they are not honouring withdrawals and have raised minimum amounts for investment in their various accounts. The specific post I'm referring to can be found at the NoBS blog. The post goes on to call A3Union a scam and warns people not to invest.

Yet when I look at the site itself I see something different. They say that they are introducing new products, they are carrying out training sessions in various countries and soon they hope to make their trading platform available to ordinary investors.

So who do we believe? My personal experience has been somewhat patchy. They have not been great at answering questions by email but they have completed the transactions that I've placed with them. Having said that I have not yet made a withdrawal as I've chosen to re-invest my funds directly.

I'd be interested in readers views on A3Union as they appear to me somewhat more stable than the writer at NoBS believes. Only time will tell but the more discussion we have on programmes like these the better it will be for those seeking a realistic return on their money.