Why Was My AWS Account Suspended After I Submitted Verification Documents?
Asked by
MellowCedar47
My AWS account was suspended on September 5 even though my bills were paid and my account was actively used every day. A few days before the suspension, I upgraded a machine from 8 vCPUs to 16 vCPUs. AWS requested verification documents, including a credit card statement and driver's license, and I submitted them more than two days ago, but I still haven't received a response. I was running Python code for algorithmic trading and wasn't using many dependencies. I can't upgrade my support plan while the account is suspended, and my income depends on these resources, so I'm worried the account could eventually be deleted. What might have triggered the suspension, and what is the best way to get the review resolved?
Answers
A suspension like this may not be related to unpaid bills. Payment-related restrictions usually come with earlier warnings, while a sudden suspension can indicate that the account was flagged for verification, unusual activity, or possible compromise. A recent jump in resource capacity could have contributed, even if the change was legitimate. Check the root account’s billing and support consoles, review your email and security activity, and make sure the verification submission was complete. Since documents were already provided, the main option is to wait for the trust-and-safety or account-review team to finish processing them and continue using the official account-recovery or support forms available without upgrading the support plan.
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The timing suggests the suspension may have been triggered by an automated risk review rather than ordinary billing. Increasing the instance from 8 to 16 vCPUs can look unusual to an automated system, although that alone doesn’t prove anything improper. Clearly explain the legitimate workload, the capacity change, when it happened, and that all charges were paid when you respond to the verification case. Also review the account for unexpected instances, access keys, emails, or usage in case someone else accessed it.
MellowCedar47: The account was actively used every day before the suspension. The workload was Python-based algorithmic trading, and I wasn’t running anything unusual or using many external packages.
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MellowCedar47: I checked the billing console and confirmed that the invoices were paid. AWS had requested verification about a day before the suspension, and I later submitted the requested card statement and driver’s license after receiving another notice.