How to Bypass if Your Amazon Account Was Locked Out?

If you can’t log into your Amazon account and see a notification that the platform has caught unusual activity, it probably means that your Amazon account locked.

In today’s article, we will look at the various reasons for blocking, how to remove the block when possible, and what are the actions if Amazon Support does not accept your appeal.

What is Amazon?

Amazon is the largest online retailer, which was the first to give a wide audience the opportunity to make purchases without leaving home. Initially, Amazon only sold books in paper and e-book versions, but today the selection includes more than 30 product categories, including consumer electronics, sporting goods, children’s toys and many more.

Due to the fact that Amazon does not have physical stores, the retailer manages to maintain very low product prices. Therefore, buying on the platform is extremely profitable, though this mainly applies to US residents, because the cost of delivery to some other countries may exceed the cost of the product.

The platform sells goods of its own production, and also allows individuals and legal entities to open their own store on its basis. In this case, Amazon acts as a guarantor of the transaction, carefully checking sellers before admitting them to the platform, processing payments, monitoring the fulfillment of the seller’s obligations, and also providing the possibility of returning goods.

When registering an account, Amazon asking for phone number to verify it. Ignoring notifications and refusing to pass verification is one of the grounds for getting a ban.

But let’s take a closer look at reasons why Amazon users can be banned. Keep reading to learn the most common ones.

Why Is My Amazon Account Locked?

There are three blocking statuses saying that your Amazon account locked: Under review, Suspended and Terminated.

• Under review means that your profile is reviewed by the platform. Amazon imposes such blocking for minor violations, for example, if one of your products violates any platform’s policies.
• Suspended status means that your account is under suspension, but you still have the chance to reactivate it. With this status, buyers do not see your listings, so you are not able continue selling.
• Terminated is a permanent block that the platform imposes for serious violations, and it can no longer be challenged through an appeal. Such cases include repeatedly violation of the policies, attempts to register a new account if you untied your previously deactivated profile, etc.

Answering the question “Why has Amazon blocked my account?”, one of the most common dues is the requirement to pass verification. Amazon may ask you to re-verify the profile if you recently changed the data or the platform wants to examine it one more time — whatever the reason is. In this case, you will have to provide documents asked by the platform.

Another common grounds for blocking is the loss of access to your profile. Amazon blocks the account access if it distinguishes unusual activity related to a hacking attempt. In this case, it will also be necessary to provide the platform with the requested documents.

Reasons for Blocking the Amazon Seller Account

When it comes to blocking the sellers’ accounts, all the cases can be divided into three types: listing blocking, account blocking, policy warnings and account reviews.

Here are some reasons why the platform might block a listing:

• Failure to comply with listing requirements. For example, defining the wrong product category, creating duplicates, using prohibited titles, etc.
• Customer complaints about the quality of your products. The site automatically processes customer reviews, and if they report that the product you sold is Expired, Used sold as new, Defective, you will receive a block.
• Failure to respect intellectual property rights. If the reason for blocking is a copyright violation, you can file a DMCA counter-notice, that is, a complaint to an unlawful copyright complaint. If there has been a violation and the copyright holder complains justifiably, they can sue you within 10 days of waiting.
• Sale of prohibited goods. If a complaint is legitimately received, it will not be possible to appeal it unless you provide evidence of the absence of a violation.

If you received a unlawful complaint, the product either:

1. Falls under the category of a possible violation, but does not violate the policy. In this case, you should appeal the complaint by writing a letter and attaching documents confirming this explanation.
2. The product does not fall into a prohibited category. If you receive a complaint that your product is on the prohibited list, but this is in no way true, it is probably the machinations of competitors: they added prohibited words to the listing. In this case, you must write an appeal explaining why the complaint is unlawful and your product is not included in the prohibited category.

Account Review Violations

Moreover, the ‘Amazon account locked’ status can be a result of ignoring notifications on the account review:

1. Potential High Price Error Alerts.
2. Dropshipping violation under review. The account will be unblocked after the first appeal, but after a repeated violation, accounts are not subject to unblocking.
3. VTR, LSR, ODR under review. This type of violation comes after violations of rating standards in Account health. In this case, you can either appeal or accept the violation by ticking the box.
4. Review manipulation violation. It can be removed in the same way as the previous violation.

Policy Warnings

Among the main bans, we can highlight the following reasons for getting the ‘Amazon account locked’ status:

• Multiple IP policy violations. This kind of ban is the result of the lack of addressing blocking of listings for violation of intellectual property rights.
• VTR, LSR, ODR blocking is the result of failure to address the account review or repeated violation or continuation. To remove the lock, it is important to indicate the correct Root cause.
• Dropshipping and Review manipulation are the result of a repeated violation or violation of the Code of Conduct. You cannot remove these violations.
• Blocking due to violations Expired, Used sold as new, Defective — to remove this kind of block, it is also important to find the correct Root cause.

How to Unlock Amazon Account?

Everything depends on a reason of blocking. In case #1, if the sign-up page says that the platform detected unusual activity, click to ‘Forget your password?’ link and enter your email address. After that, check your email, copy an OTP, paste it into the appropriate form and click ‘Continue’. Then, the server will redirect you to the password resetting page. Once you reset your password, you will be able to log in. So, your issue will be solved and you unlock Amazon account.

If it did not work out, go to the Help section and contact Support explaining the situation.

For merchant accounts, unlocking steps will vary.

Case #2 — legal blocking

If Amazon justifiably suspended your account, you will need to file an appeal with Plan of Action. To make the appeal work, the action plan must include:

• Root cause which is the root cause of blocking.
• Corrective measures/ actions which are actions that you immediately took when a problem occurred.
• Preventive measures which are actions you will take to prevent similar problems from occurring further.

Case #3 — erroneous blocking

If you believe Amazon has sanctioned you in error, to unlock Amazon account, leverage the Dispute form to debate the action. For the service to satisfy your request, make a request using as much evidence as possible of the wrongful deactivation of your account.

It is the Dispute form that you have to utilize if it is necessary to unblock a blocked listing.

How to Create a New Amazon Account?

When you create a new Amazon account, it is crucial to comply with several points so that the site cannot track its connection with a previously deactivated account. Here are the signs that Amazon can utilize to track the connection:

• IP address or MAC address of the computer.
• Browser footprints, including cookies and flash objects.
• Personal data matching the data from the deactivated account.

Therefore, when registering, you will definitely have to leverage a VPN to change your IP address, along with utilizing completely new data, including your bank account number, internationally chargeable credit card, ID, tax information, and a phone number.

To securely verify your account with a phone number, you can use a one-time virtual phone from SMS-man but not your personal mobile.

Virtual Phone to Create a New Amazon Account

Virtual phone numbers with limited duration are a practical tool if you need to register on various online services and applications without submitting your real-life cellular phone. They are especially useful if you are concerned about maintaining your online anonymity and data privacy or need to get access to a platform that is blocked in your country.

Moreover, virtual numbers from SMS-Man do not cost a fortune with a starting price for a disposable number from $0.14 per number. Alternatively, you are able to buy a temporary number with duration period up to 3 months.

Here is how you can obtain a one-time use number to create a new Amazon account:

1. Register on sms-man.com using an email address or verified social media account.
2. Replenish your balance via VISA, Payeer, AliPay or another suitable option.
3. On ‘Receive SMS’, opt for the service (Amazon) and the country of the mobile operator (US). Tap the purchase button.
4. Scroll the main page and copy the obtained number to submit it to Amazon.
5. Return to SMS-man and reveal an OTP by tapping the ‘Receive SMS’ button next to the number.
6. Leverage the confirmation code to verify the account.