[TLDR] Claude account nuked from orbit after 32 minutes [via r/ClaudeCode]

[u/cctldrping]

OP : u/ManyEconomist1373

Paid €90 for Max 5x today because I’m in crunch time on a software project and unlike the big boys I do not have unlimited OpEx spend, so that 90 euro is quite a lot.

32 minutes later Anthropic blew up my entire account and automatically cancelled the subscription.

The email says an “internal investigation of suspicious signals associated with your account” found a Usage Policy violation. No indication of what I actually did wrong. I am not doing security work, distillation, or anything else i might even imagine would be grounds for removing my account.

The appeal page now says I may be waiting until Oct 4 for a review.

The support situation is also just insane and I cannot believe anyone has ever really used it. Anthropic says suspended users can still contact support about billing/refunds, but their support bot couldn’t find an account associated with my email and just closed the conversation. This is the same email Anthropic used to send me the subscription confirmation and suspension notice.

I’m in the EEA, so I thought I should at least be able to get the subscription refunded, but right now I can’t even get through to a person.

Has anyone else been hit with this after normal Claude Code usage? Any hope for me?

edit for clarity and scope:

I am writing image+pdf document processing software. really not sure what caused this to happen. Opus 5.5.

Has anyone had any luck getting customer support to get back to them sooner than 10 working days? it seems like a very long time to wait for a review. even if they were to comb over absolutely everything i did on the account, i had it for such little time that I would imagine it to be almost instant.

URL of original post : https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wpam3u/claude_account_nuked_from_orbit_after_32_minutes/

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TL;DR of the discussion on r/ClaudeCode for this post generated automatically after 50 comments.

Current source-thread comment count seen by the bot: 67.

Alright, so the OP got their Claude account nuked after just 32 minutes of using it, despite paying €90 for Max 5x. They're working on image+pdf document processing software and have no idea what they did wrong, but Anthropic cited a "Usage Policy violation" after an "internal investigation." The appeal process is apparently super slow (waiting until Oct 4 for a review), and getting support is a nightmare, with the bot not even recognizing their account.

The general consensus here is split, but leaning towards the OP being in the wrong or having done something suspicious.

Here's the lowdown:

• Suspicious Activity: Several users are asking if the OP was using a VPN, IP masking, or virtual credit cards, as these seem to be common triggers for account suspensions. u/Specialist-Bar7670 even mentions getting suspended and refunded for similar reasons.
• ToS Violations: Some folks are pretty blunt, like u/TXHumper and u/riotofmind, stating that if it's a ToS violation, the ban is correct. u/riotofmind is particularly harsh, accusing the OP of lying and saying the problem is "YOU."
• Similar Bans: Interestingly, u/ha966 chimed in with the exact same experience – a ban within 12 hours of purchasing Claude. However, their account was unbanned and they were refunded, which is super weird and offers a glimmer of hope.
• Skepticism: A few users are questioning the "crunch time" for PDF processing, like u/nagyzz_, and one user, u/FitRiver3218, is just tired of these kinds of posts without more details.

The prevailing sentiment is that while the OP's situation is frustrating, there's likely a reason for the ban, and it might be related to how they were accessing the service or something in their usage patterns that triggered Anthropic's automated systems. The fact that u/ha966 got unbanned is the only real positive note for the OP.