“Banned Until 2036”: How I Spent Several Sleepless Nights Looking for My “Sin” — and Support Pointed to a Public VPN IP
I want to share this story not for advertising, not for drama, and certainly not to blame anyone.
This is simply an honest story from a newcomer who, for several days, believed he had done something so serious on MQL5 that he had been banned for almost ten years.
One day I suddenly saw this message in my profile:
“Ban till 2036.08.24 (Spam via PM)”
My first thought was simple:
What did I do?
I am still relatively new to MQL5 and recently launched my first EA. I was enthusiastic about the project and probably very active.
I communicated with buyers through private messages, sent screenshots and PDF reports, added new contacts, invited some users to my public groups, and published technical posts and project updates.
When I saw the words “Spam via PM”, I immediately started going through everything I had done.
Was I sending too many messages to buyers?
Was I adding too many friends?
Was I inviting too many people to groups?
Was I posting too often?
I tried to find clear rules or at least approximate recommendations about messaging frequency, friend requests, group invitations, and other activity that could trigger an anti-spam restriction.
I could not find clear practical limits.
And because I did not know exactly what I had done wrong, when I contacted Support I practically started apologizing for everything at once.
Maybe I communicated too actively.
Maybe I added too many contacts.
Maybe I invited too many users.
Maybe, simply because I was new, I crossed some invisible line without realizing it.
I apologized and promised not to repeat the behavior.
The most difficult part was not even the frightening date 2036 itself.
For some time, I could not properly use several social features on MQL5. I could not publish a blog post. I could not add friends. I could not write on the wall.
For a seller, this creates another serious problem: buyers may need help at exactly that moment.
And you suddenly have very limited ways to tell them:
“I have not disappeared. I am not ignoring you. I am simply having a temporary access problem.”
That was probably the worst part for me.
I was genuinely upset. I spent several nights thinking about what I had done that could justify a restriction lasting until 2036.
For a new seller, a message like that looks almost like a final judgment.
Then I received a reply from MQL5 Support:
“Your account is not banned. Probably you are logged in from a public IP address which is banned.”
That completely changed my understanding of the situation.
According to Support, my account itself was not banned.
The likely problem was a public IP address.
And that explanation made sense.
I had repeatedly experienced WebSocket and access problems while using MQL5 through a browser on my VPS. When access stopped working properly, I sometimes enabled a VPN.
As many people know, VPN services often use shared public IP addresses. The same IP may have previously been used by dozens or hundreds of unrelated people.
So the most likely explanation, based on the Support reply, is that I connected through a public VPN IP address that had already been blocked by MQL5.
And this is the strange part of the story.
For several days I had been analyzing my private messages, friend requests, groups and posts, trying to understand what terrible anti-spam violation I had committed.
Meanwhile, the problem may have had nothing to do with those actions at all.
I am very grateful to Support for clarifying this.
But this experience left me with one sincere request for MQL5.
Please give users some general guidance about safe activity
I completely understand why anti-spam and anti-abuse systems must exist.
Without them, any large community would quickly become unusable.
I also understand that exact thresholds and anti-spam algorithms should probably not be published, because real spammers could simply adapt to them.
But newcomers would benefit enormously from at least some general recommendations.
For example:
What kind of messaging activity may be considered excessive?
How carefully should users approach friend requests?
Can frequent group invitations trigger temporary restrictions?
What kind of behavior may result in an automatic limitation?
Even approximate guidance would help legitimate users understand where normal community activity ends and suspicious automated behavior may begin.
This is especially important for sellers.
If a seller suddenly loses access to communication features, even temporarily, the problem affects not only the seller. Buyers who need support may also be left waiting without understanding what happened.
So I also want to say something directly to my buyers who had to wait for my replies:
I am sorry.
I was not ignoring anyone and I did not disappear.
At that moment, I was trying to understand myself what had happened and why I had suddenly lost access to several MQL5 communication features.
This article is not an advertisement for my EA.
There will be no product link here.
I am writing it because I strongly suspect I am not the first person who has seen a frightening long-term ban message and had no idea what actually caused it.
If you have ever experienced “Spam via PM”, an automatic restriction, a blocked public IP, or a similar situation, please share your experience in the comments.
What caused it in your case?
Did Support explain what happened?
Was it related to a VPN, VPS, public IP, or genuinely excessive activity?
Perhaps our experiences can help the next newcomer avoid several sleepless nights thinking that he has just been banned until 2036.
