Abstract:
Recently, many users reported on Reddit and the OpenAI official developer community that their ChatGPT accounts were suddenly deactivated, including Pro users with a monthly subscription fee of US$200. Some users said that they did not receive any notification before their accounts were blocked, and their long-term accumulated chat records and work information were therefore inaccessible.
On November 7, a user posted in the OpenAI official developer community that his ChatGPT Pro account was suddenly deactivated that day, and the system displayed the error code "account_deactivated", but did not receive any warning or ban notification email.
The user stated that he was not only a ChatGPT Pro subscriber, but also joined OpenAI’s network security-related access plan, and his account enabled advanced security settings that require physical security key verification. He suspected that the account ban may be related to his recent access to ChatGPT and Codex through VPN nodes in different regions. However, this is just the user's personal speculation.
The OpenAI Support account subsequently replied under the post, stating that due to the specific account information involved, the account suspension appeal cannot be processed in the public community forum. Users should appeal through the link in the ban notification email; if they do not receive the email, they can contact customer service through the official appeal form or the help center. The reply did not explain the specific reason why the user's account was blocked.
Similar complaints have appeared on the Reddit platform. On November 7, a ChatGPT Pro user posted that his paid account was suddenly deactivated. The reason he received was that the account was suspected of being related to another previously closed account. However, the user denied that he owned or used other accounts, and said that he received a reply upholding the ban decision about an hour after submitting the appeal.
Other users reported that after the account was permanently suspended, the appeal was unsuccessful, and notes, diaries and other data originally saved in ChatGPT could no longer be accessed. Previously, Reddit users had posted a collection of recent account ban cases, involving different types of usage policy disputes.
For account bans, the OpenAI official help center lists a variety of possible reasons, including violation of usage policies, bypassing security or access restrictions, improper sharing of accounts and API keys, account security anomalies, and failure to complete necessary identity verification.
Regional access restrictions are also one of the risks clearly listed by OpenAI. According to official instructions, accessing ChatGPT or OpenAI API from unsupported countries or regions may result in account ban or suspension. However, using VPN nodes in different regions does not necessarily mean violating regional access restrictions. It is not yet certain whether the relevant users will be banned for this reason.
As of press time, OpenAI has not released a unified explanation for the recent account deactivation issues reported by users, nor has it disclosed the specific number of people affected. The existing cases cannot prove that these accounts belong to the same centralized banning operation, and whether there is a mistaken ban remains to be further confirmed.
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