Unexpected account bans & what to do

You’ve probably seen it—people on social media venting about getting banned and losing their earnings on “get paid to” sites. I’ve been there too, and it’s super frustrating when you’ve played by the rules and still get locked out.

The truth is, these sites deal with a lot of people trying to game the system, so they use strict automated checks to weed out the bad actors. But sometimes, these systems make mistakes, and legit users get caught in the net.

Of course, if you’ve broken the rules—like using a VPN (iCloud private relay could also count as one), creating multiple accounts, or something like that—then the ban is probably deserved. But if you’re sure you’ve done nothing wrong and can’t figure out why you’ve been banned, don’t panic or get angry.

The first thing you should do is find the support contact details on their website. Send them a polite email from your registered email address. Explain that your account has been locked, and you’re not aware of doing anything wrong. Let them know you’ve enjoyed using their site and that you’re happy to provide ID to prove you’re legit.

Remember, you want the person that reads it to help you. If you are rude, write huge amounts of text complaining & generally come across as not a very nice person, you are probably not going to get a very positive response.

Stay polite & professional (even if you don’t get the outcome you are looking for).

Some sites might ignore you, especially if they’re short-staffed. Others might send a generic reply, without really looking into it & saying the ban stays, and they won’t discuss it further.

But there’s also a decent chance that they’ll actually look into it & work with you to help resolve the issue.

I always follow the rules on these sites: no multiple accounts, no VPNs. I answer surveys honestly and play mobile games just like I would any other game (no exploits or cheating). Despite this, I’ve still been banned on a few different sites.

One just rejected me straight after I completed their full ID verification. I’m fairly sure this was just a technical error their end where an automated system failed to read the details correctly in the photo of my ID. That was the end of it though & I can never become a member.

Two other sites I was blocked on a few weeks/months in. On contact with support using the approach above, I was offered the opportunity to send ID (and sometimes a selfie of me holding the ID), & on both of these sites I was able to get my account reactivated.

While both of these were sorted out successfully, it just goes to show how easy it is to trigger these super sensitive monitoring algorithms even when aware of all the potential pitfalls.

If you use enough of these sites for long enough, getting unfairly banned on at least one is probably unavoidable. If support can’t or won’t help, you’ll probably lose any earnings you haven’t already cashed out. That’s why on most sites I try to cash out as soon as I hit the minimum payout threshold.

To try to avoid getting a surprise ban, pay close attention to the acceptable use policies across these different sites.

A lot of them only allow one account per household, so even someone else signing up on a shared internet connection, or you just using a Wi-Fi connection when visiting a friends house, could be enough to cause an issue. Be super careful where you login to your accounts from.

If you are temporarily visiting another country (on holiday etc), you should never login to any of these sites from there. Doing so will almost certainly get your account banned for being used in a different country.

It might even be worth uninstalling any survey / “get paid to” apps before you travel, just to be on the safe side, as they will probably be calling home to check for app notifications for new surveys etc.