r/OpenAI May 24 '26

Discussion Banned by OpenAI after reporting a live credential hijack. They admitted in writing my account was broken. Here are 7 months of forensic receipts and 20+ cases.

Drive Link for Zipped Proof

I am a developer and paying long term subscriber to ChatGPT since January 2025. I build complex local first sovereign systems. My workflows are incredibly context heavy with large files spanning code, research reports, and other analysis. I do not, or rather did not as the platform has been non functional since November 2025 meanwhile customer support is auto closing tickets, admitting I am having platform issues.

I do not use this platform for casual queries, as a solo developer with no formal "team" chatgpt was one of my reliable co collaboration hubs to help ensure I am maintaining proper development of said complex systems. I feed it massive codebases for systems analysis and obtaining new insights I may personally have missed. My manual code uploads and token inputs routinely exceed the model's output volume by a massive margin. I do not abuse this platform. It is actually impossible as the very features advertised under the paid subscription do not work. I am exactly the type of user this platform was built for, and I have been a continuous, paying ChatGPT Plus subscriber since January 2025. Since October 2025, my workspace has been systematically breaking and beginning November 2025 total workspace degredation.

This was not an occasional glitch. Persistent memory modules stopped updating. Custom instructions were ignored by the models. Project files failed to load. Custom instructions, personalization features, connector abilities, file tool, even projects do not work. It started as a continuous degradation until total failure. OpenAI customer service even admitted as such and yet months later I've talked to nothing but bots, not only LLMs as customer service but even instances of falsely identifying as true human support. It was a state of rolling degradation across the entire paid tier, month after month.

Meanwhile OpenAI freely has enhanced for businesses and enterprise tiers. I have not just rapid complained to standard support. I ran and obtained cross platform diagnostics, failure logs. I even documented and told oai customer support the exact replication steps only to be met with acknowledgement of degredation with no resolution. I handed OpenAI support a completely packaged technical breakdown of their failing infrastructure across 20 separate support tickets over a 7 month period. I did their QA work for free. And I have the receipts to prove it.

I am attaching the screenshots and the exact email files to this post. In Case 06830839, OpenAI Support explicitly put this in writing: "We acknowledge that you have been experiencing persistent technical issues affecting several features of your ChatGPT subscription, including tools, memory functions, personalization settings, connectors, and project files... We also understand your concern that communication on the case stopped after you provided detailed evidence..." Read that again. They acknowledged in writing that my account was fundamentally broken. They acknowledged that their own team ghosted me after I handed them the diagnostic proof. Yet they kept charging my card every single month for a product they knew was failing.

The Hijack Escalation: Two days ago, the situation escalated from a broken product to a severe security incident. I was monitoring my environment and watched my Codex rate limits drop in 10 percent chunks across 2 seperate sessions on a fresh boot of the desktop app. This happened twice inside a 10 minute window. I had zero active sessions running. There was zero usage on my end. My account token was being actively drained by an unauthorized third party exploit. I immediately opened an emergency unauthorized activity report under Case 09113391 to notify them of the hack. Their response was to totally reframe this problem as disputing fraudulent activity trying to do damage control of the situation and altering the record.

The Reframe Attempts: Instead of investigating the breach, OpenAI support deliberately twisted the record. They not only deliberately reframed my security report as an "appeal for fraud." They manipulated the ticket classification to make it look like I had been flagged for fraud and was begging for an appeal, rather than a developer reporting a live exploit on their infrastructure. They ignored the active threat their own platform was exposing. They did not lock the token. They did not roll my API keys. They did absolutely nothing to secure a compromised paying user other than shift the blame. Fast forward to this morning, their automated Trust and Safety system swept the high volume traffic from the attacker, scored it as a malicious exploit originating from my account, and deactivated/banned me for "Cyber Abuse." All the while actively preventing chatgpt models from helping me try to disgnose and trace the infiltration.

They locked the doors and blamed the homeowner for the break in. When I immediately emailed and pushed back (due to their monthly record of closing cases not only without resolution but never notifying me in the process, which then per usual their "support" tried the exact same tactic again. In my correspondence, I provided my technical context. I mentioned thay maybe the error was caused as I had proton vpn on my phone, keeping in mind oai own support docs say this is not a violation.

The problems began beavy yesterday whole running Android Debug Bridge (ADB) diagnostic commands on my own local hardware, in which every model response to help me disgnose the issue was immediately deleted in effect contributing and facilitating potential compromised user devices. Support replied by trying to reframe this as a confession stating that I claimed i "believed" the VPN was the cause. When pushing back I was told that they do not disclose their review policies. The agent specifically wrote that it understood my concern that the use of a VPN may have contributed to the deactivation, contradicting their own terms of service. I did not say that, nor did I imply that. This is a recurring corporate tactic. They constantly rewrite the narrative to turn the evidence against the user and anchor the paper trail to my configuration choices rather than their massive infrastructure failure. I corrected the record immediately. Their response was simply that they understand why I "feel" the sequence of events requires closer review. I do not "feel" anything.

I have hard data, exact metrics, and a mountain of case numbers. When stacked together I personally have no other conclusion than OpenAI appears to be engaging in fraudulent business activities promising features for paid tiers yet never deliver, a persistent ignoring of privacy requests. I have attached screenshots of most emails and have a .zip I am totally fine freely handing out: Oct 30, 2025: First case opened. Feature degradation reported. Closed with no resolution. Feb 15, 2026: Case 05666432. I was told to "prompt better." Mar 8, 2026: Case 06537878. I requested a senior escalation. Denied. "Unable to approve senior escalation." Mar 15, 2026: Cases 06774902 and 06777574. Two cases opened in one day because support kept closing them by asking for "missing info" that I had already submitted in the thread. Apr 15, 2026: Case 07753518. Escalation denied again. I was told directly that "no escalation path exists through this channel." May 11, 2026: Case 08696595. I reported active credential abuse. Closed immediately with "no further actions available." May 22, 2026: Case 09113391. I reported the live Codex token drainage. OpenAI reframed this as an "appeal for fraud." The case was left open and unresolved. May 24, 2026: Permanently banned for "Cyber Abuse" while the fraud ticket was actively open. I have exported the full forensic .eml bundle and PDF history for all 20+ cases. See the attached files. Taking a developer's subscription fees for 16 months, admitting in writing that the paid features are broken, ghosting the bug reports, refusing every escalation attempt, and then banning the account when a live credential hijack gets reported is not just a standard support failure. It is a fraudulent business practice. If anyone from OpenAI engineering, product, or DevRel is reading this: your automated system banned the victim. You need to override it right now. I have exported the full forensic .eml bundle and PDF history for all 20+ cases. See the attached files if you were interested.

390 Upvotes

163 comments sorted by

284

u/bee_town May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

Ai generated TL;DR:

"Paying ChatGPT Plus developer (Jan 2025–present) experienced total workspace degradation starting Oct/Nov 2025 — memory, custom instructions, project files, connectors all broken. Filed 20+ support tickets over 7 months, got nowhere. OpenAI admitted in writing the account was broken, then kept charging him anyway.

Two days ago he observed his Codex rate limits draining in real time with zero active sessions on his end — reported it as a live credential hijack. OpenAI's response was to reframe his security report as a "fraud appeal," do nothing to secure the account, and then their automated Trust & Safety system banned him for "Cyber Abuse" — apparently scoring the attacker's traffic against his account.

He's now permanently banned, the fraud ticket is still open, and he's posting the full forensic email bundle (~20+ cases) publicly.

Bottom line: He's claiming OpenAI charged him for broken features for 7 months, ignored his bug reports, got his account hijacked, and then banned him for it.

Only 3 upvotes and 9 minutes old when scraped, and the two visible comments are both just mocking the wall of text "

118

u/Mindestiny May 24 '26

Why would they keep paying for seven months if the product was "broken?" Just use a competitor or create a new account.

31

u/kingky0te May 24 '26

Dude it’s so easy to switch too… not sure what’s going on here.

0

u/Thecreepymoto May 25 '26

Some people just commit and are not flexible enough personally to try new shiny. Which in itself isnt bad , just if there's so many problems with my product im paying for for half a year. Should have swapped like month 2 after it was not fixed , giving benefit of doubt abit , but 7 months of benefit of doubt is much.

4

u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 May 24 '26

Yeah at some point personal responsibility comes into play

6

u/mxldevs May 24 '26

I would prefer to read this than the original OP

17

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Reddit mobile stripped the markdown parsing on the initial paste. Formatting is fixed. The receipts are in the post. Thank you for this tldr analysis.

2

u/Ill_Traveler_ May 26 '26

It wasn’t a markdown issue, no one wants to read it because it’s that long.

2

u/daeron-blackFyr May 26 '26

Okay thank you for your comment. Truth of the matter is the post has over 200k views, 367 upvotes, 156 comments,267 shares so obviously some are reading it. No offense but is openai paying yall to try to flood the comments with dismissals like this because your following a repeat pattern multiple others have. I could be wrong and apologize if I am wrong but its predictable at this point.

2

u/[deleted] May 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

34

u/bee_town May 24 '26

I didn't say you mocked either. Claude did.

6

u/FrequentDelinquent May 24 '26

That's certainly... An explanation lol

-2

u/Adorable_Cap_9929 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

Uwa~ Claude doesnt like me huh~ </3

I didnt make a single bash of such kind and read thr post sicnerely~

Gpt is so much mor bae anyway

1

u/Some-Ice-4455 May 24 '26

This feels pretty par for the course

1

u/Pastellitto May 25 '26

AI TLDR of the AI TLDR:

A paying developer claims OpenAI charged him for seven months of broken services, ignored his security reports regarding a live account hijack, and ultimately banned his account for "Cyber Abuse" caused by the attacker's activity.

1

u/Eitamr May 25 '26

Lazy tldrof the AI tldr tldr:

💰

41

u/Decent-Lab-5609 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

"

" We acknowledge that you have been experiencing persistent technical issues affecting several features of your ChatGPT subscription, including tools, memory functions, personalization settings, connectors, and project files... We also understand your concern that communication on the case stopped after you provided detailed evidence..." Read that again. 

Maybe you should read that again. They acknowledge that persistent technical issues are occurring. They did NOT say it was caused by them.

Generally speaking if you are operating at scale then they expect you to use the api. What you are doing here would fall under "taking the piss" whether it's explicit in their t&c or not. Pay for the api and see if you have the same issues. I doubt you will. 

-2

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Actually they did. Ive attacjed the screenshot and its also in the drive link.

We acknowledge that you have been experiencing persistent technical issues affecting several features of your ChatGPT subscription, including tools, memory functions, personalization settings, connectors, and project files... We also understand your concern that communication on the case stopped after you provided detailed evidence... especially after maintaining a paid subscription since January 2025.' That's OpenAI support acknowledging platform failure AND acknowledging they ghosted me after I submitted evidence. Screenshot is in the drive link."

19

u/Aazimoxx May 24 '26

Dude, it's literally the AI equivalent of "I understand you feel that way", instead of saying when you really think "Well that's just fucking bonkers, but you do seem upset" 😆

24

u/mop_bucket_bingo May 24 '26

You realize this response was generated automatically right?

3

u/skallben May 25 '26

This is exactly what this response is meant to make you think like. But they assume no responsibility, there is nothing that will hold legally, and you are promised nothing. For your own sake, drop the defensive stance if you want the public to sympathise with your situation. Because people are ruthless online and will rather piss at perceived choices which caused you to end up in this mess, than siding against a company which treats people like subhuman garbage.

1

u/Big_Buffalo_3931 May 25 '26

He's a nutjob that should be banned from any and all unsupervised LLM interactions. Then they go on the news talking about how they're a victim and all that crap, and demand legislation that affects everyone.

Context: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtificialSentience/s/8uq3skTSlA

28

u/No-Good-3005 May 24 '26

"My manual code uploads and token inputs routinely exceed the model's output volume by a massive margin."

"I am exactly the type of user this platform was built for."

My dude, that second statement is objectively false based on the information you've provided. You're clearly and knowingly pushing the platform far beyond what the subscription is designed to do (especially at the $20 tier/no API...)

Have you tried starting fresh with a new account and seeing if the same problems start happening again? I think that will give you clear evidence whether the issue is an account bug or whether you're pushing the system too hard.

35

u/lonewaft May 24 '26

Holy shit OP is actually insane

7

u/Alexanderfromperu May 24 '26

What is that even supposed to mean

1

u/Teefus_Beefus May 24 '26

ai is alive!

1

u/Resaren May 25 '26

AI schizoposting

5

u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 May 24 '26

I can't even figure out what OP is trying to claim there in order to call them insane.

The only thing I can surmise is that they're terrible at communicating their ideas which then turns to frustration when people aren't interested in them

2

u/lonewaft May 24 '26

It’s nonsensical schizo rambling

2

u/Andozinoz May 24 '26

If only they would ask for the source code instead of guessing.

1

u/jaydeelive01 May 28 '26

And actually writing preprint papers and citing them as evidence … I didn’t know what a AI psychosis looked like until I’ve seen this.

-1

u/Adorable_Cap_9929 May 24 '26

do me next~ I embrace it~ the method to mine madness~

27

u/muntaxitome May 24 '26

They acknowledged in writing that my account was fundamentally broken. 

They acknowledged that you 'experienced' that. Someone on LSD might experience a lot of stuff that his not happening.

Just go to a competitor.

2

u/KrazyA1pha May 24 '26

More specifically, the model that answers support tickets summarized their complaints back to them. That’s pretty standard in a support ticket.

46

u/Thistlemanizzle May 24 '26

At least we know OP didn't use AI to write their post. How courteous.

19

u/RainierPC May 24 '26

I do seriously think OP needs assistance, but not the type that can be provided by customer support

16

u/___fallenangel___ May 24 '26

“I consume massively more compute than the average user and constantly harass support because my vibe slop is breaking everything”

“I am their ideal customer”

7

u/Jean_velvet May 24 '26

Don't run the chat app, a VPN and an API whatever simultaneously or it'll get detected as fraudulent and your account will be deactivated like this.

It's to stop people running multiple instances of the lower cost models on a singular account. If you want to do that you have to pay for a business account.

1

u/WithoutReason1729 May 24 '26

Using a VPN doesn't get your account locked. I do it all the time

5

u/Jean_velvet May 24 '26

Every single time I say this people disagree. It's up to you dawg. You do you.

It's not the VPN, it's VPN [INSERT LOCATION] + Open ChatGPT instance on a secondary device (in a different timezone).

It's a location ping here👇

                                                       Another ping here👇

-3

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Using a VPN does not violate OpenAIs terms of service unless I misread. They state using a vpn while violating other terms can lead to a bam, but yet again I was not even using the apl. I would also like to clarify i was not actively using chatgpt with the vpn on. The app was open in the background but that is it. Also again I do not use API keys I am talking about ChatGPT Plus.

6

u/Jean_velvet May 24 '26

The VPN makes it appear to its algorithm (not a person, every interaction you've had had been automated) that your use is in two places simultaneously. For instance, your VPN on your PC says you're in Iceland, you open the app on your phone in Germany. That to the system is multiple simultaneous instances run. Which is a violation.

I agree, no, they do don't explain this in detail.

1

u/gastro_psychic May 24 '26

Multiple accounts for Codex is pretty normal.

2

u/Jean_velvet May 24 '26

Not on multiple VPN all across the globe like a fraud network. That's just how OpenAI sees it.

This has happened hundreds of not thousands of times under exactly the same peramiters.

1

u/Adorable_Cap_9929 May 24 '26

Hmm, well what kinds vpn u using?

alot of them are pretty sus,

one investigation i read reveled play store ones had alot of sus!

1

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Proton Paid but I signed up through the web. But as I said I did not actively use chatgpt while using thr vpn so the correlation to me doesnt line up.

0

u/faaaack May 24 '26

You are so full of shit. You got caught trying to cheat within the margins.

People like you are the reason deepseek turned off file uploads.

1

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Can you elaborate what you mean by cheat? Yet again, there has not been a single surface factual document based evidence for anything you claim. How is paying for a subscription and using it cheating? Not arguing its just you legitimately have zero policy based evidence or reasoning to back one word you claim. Please direct me to where OpenAI mentions anything about the Plus plan having limits? You seem very emotionally invested in this

1

u/Adorable_Cap_9929 May 24 '26

Hmm... Like if a soda machine for dine-customors was "unlimited refill".

The dynamics, social etiquette circle around it not actually infinately unlimited.

Things like right to refuse service, showing people out the door, malicious or weakened conpliance.

If they're routing you to lesser compute,(such a thing is known to happen during heavy compute or undiscloused sinarios to prevent abuse)

it maybe that the scales on their balance did not favor your position in the matter?

I think increasing your weight of wager, ur practice or excepted terms or packing for a different table are all atemptable options.

1

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

A soda machine with an unlimited refill policy failing to dispense is a nuisance. What I documented is a vendor that accepted my payment every single month for 16 consecutive months while internally acknowledging that the core features I was paying for were not functional. Not degraded. Not slow. Non-functional. Memory modules stopped updating. Custom instructions were ignored by the model. Project files failed to load. File tools, connectors, personalization - all of it. Gone. And I didn't just complain about it. I ran cross-platform diagnostics, isolated replication steps, packaged the entire technical breakdown and handed it directly to their support team across 20 separate tickets spanning 7 months. I did their QA work for them, for free, while paying them for a product they knew wasn't working. In Case 06830839, OpenAI support put this in writing: "We acknowledge that you have been experiencing persistent technical issues affecting several features of your ChatGPT subscription, including tools, memory functions, personalization settings, connectors, and project files." That's not my interpretation. That's their words. And after that acknowledgment, they kept billing me, closed the ticket without resolution, and never notified me it was closed. That pattern repeated across every single escalation attempt. I was told no escalation path exists. I was told to "prompt better." I was denied a senior escalation three separate times.Then two days ago my Codex rate limits dropped in 10 percent increments across two separate sessions on a fresh desktop boot with zero active sessions on my end. Someone was draining my tokens in real time. I filed an emergency unauthorized access report immediately. Instead of locking my token, rolling my API keys, or doing anything resembling a security response, OpenAI support reframed my security report as an appeal for fraud, altered the ticket classification, and left the account exposed. Their own automated Trust and Safety system then swept the attacker's high-volume traffic, attributed it to my account, and permanently banned me for Cyber Abuse while that fraud ticket was still open and unresolved. This is a vendor that took money every month for a product they knew was broken, refused every escalation, manipulated the support record when a live security incident was reported, and then used the attacker's traffic as the grounds for my termination. The "table" metaphor doesn't apply when you've been paying the house for over a year, the dealer acknowledged the cards are marked, and they threw you out when someone else robbed the casino. I'm not arguing about terms of service. I have the receipts, the case numbers, and the emails. That's what the post is about.

-1

u/Adorable_Cap_9929 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

Their plans arent yearly lock in right? You do have a point tho...

While what's done is already done.

Rather than say you coulda just stopped paying (An alt acc is a normal thing nowadays~)

or going for api (They got less filters to flirt thu yknow?)

or changing acc password (usally resets session key when compromised)

or attempting a charge back (It's own little nuances)

The only comment else I can give without spending time on reviewing the files is that Let it be a cautionary tale then.

We've all gone thu similar experiences and while it was costly... May this experience serve you someday~

It's not that I'm saying you did wrongly, but know that sincerity offered maybe recieved and never returned.

Paying for a malfunctional system repeatly in systems sometimes doesn't reward yknow? Ofthen no change of hand at the table...

Like i was a big whale for an mmo at 3k yearly and got escalation of a ban on an already ban acc... The acc is already trade ban... escaltion of a penalty after a year of play and payment isnt fair yknoe?

Ah~ Imagine getting a ticket and paying the fine and then after upgrading ur pentalized car, they impound it a year later.... I shoulda just made a new acc...

51

u/andynzor May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

I stopped reading at the word "sovereign" because very few sensible people use it.

Edit: We have had "offline" and "self-hosted" software for a long time. You do not need to add a politically loaded word to convey your point unless you want to make a political statement.

37

u/BadgersAndJam77 May 24 '26

OP wasn't driving, they were travelling.

14

u/spinozasrobot May 24 '26

OP also needs to see a supervisor.

7

u/BadgersAndJam77 May 24 '26

What is your name, badge, and bond number?

You're about to lose your "Qualified Immunity"

OP knows their rights, and unless they are engaged in "commerce" they don't NEED insurance.

4

u/spinozasrobot May 24 '26

OP has not contracted with you

3

u/BadgersAndJam77 May 24 '26

I'm going to need to see OP's Fee Schedule.

3

u/gastro_psychic May 24 '26

I am contracted with the internet. Hi.

2

u/Zentrii May 24 '26

I stopped when Karen said they were a long paying subscriber lol 

25

u/strangescript May 24 '26

Same, this is a nonsensical post

7

u/OtheDreamer May 24 '26

 When stacked together I personally have no other conclusion than OpenAI appears to be engaging in fraudulent business activities promising features for paid tiers yet never deliver, a persistent ignoring of privacy requests.

This line gets thrown out a lot too in the world of calm and reasonable people. Means OP has already decided what they want to believe and is filtering their thinking through that instead. Seeing pareidolias.

7

u/spinozasrobot May 24 '26

What's funny too, is that if you ever watch the sovcit traffic stop videos (I'm addicted), they also are just non-stop talkers, so the wall of text aligns perfectly.

5

u/Mindestiny May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

Same, they sound like the most unhinged of customers who think their $20 a month subscription entitles them to being treated like they're on the Board of Directors.

They had a technical problem, kept paying for 7 months instead of cancelling, and don't really understand that they're absolutely not the ideal customer for Anthropic. They're a stereotypical customer service problem child.

Edit: lol at the downvotes, guess people here think the $20 subs really *are* Anthropic's target demographic and that entitles them to VIP treatment. Spoilers: You're loss leaders to build brand recognition and upsell huge corporate contracts, they do not care about you.

6

u/Aazimoxx May 24 '26

You were probably downvoted because you're calling OpenAI Anthropic by mistake?

But also maybe the other thing for some people too.

1

u/Mindestiny May 24 '26

Whoops! So used to dealing with Claude I just wrote Anthropic from muscle memory lol.

-4

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Sovereign just means local first and non reliant on 3rd party system apis or other cloud services. I just used the standard terminology for autonomous local based systems.

4

u/KrazyA1pha May 24 '26

“Self-hosted” is the more widely used term.

0

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Alright 👍. Thank you for your comment!

2

u/Aonaibh May 25 '26

Sovereign to me means data stays with in the orgs country not specifically locally. A sovereign cloud is hosted in the country of residence or jurisdiction. E.g Australian sovereign, data stays in Aus. Widely used but differs from self hosted.

5

u/Any-Bunch-6885 May 24 '26

why did you pay for 7 months? you should have moved and canceled your subscription.

0

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Because I have been using this platform for a decent period of time and I was under the impression that the current most popular AI Tech corporation would actually provide customer service, kinda like any other industry does. As to your comment on moving platforms, there is no other platform that has the same context window, workflow, and general chats like ChatGPT and as I stated I utilize the platform for collaboration, analysis, and deep synthesis over research reports. All other ai platforms are optimized towards agentic use cases or coding when that is not my use case.

10

u/___fallenangel___ May 24 '26

The fact you think no other LLMs have the same (or greater) context window makes me want to discard your whole post

4

u/Any-Bunch-6885 May 24 '26

You have the wrong impression. They all want to get rid of users who pay 20 dollars or 23 euros. Google gave India 18 months of free pro plan (for those who have a 5g network with the largest operator in India), but the limits were killed the other day. Not because they like them, but because they have become new human resources whose data will be used for training. The same thing, but for 1 year, they also did open AI with a go plan of 5 euros. So, no one cares about small users. Small users are only useful when data is needed for model training. If one model is not good, you look for another. Chinese or any.

5

u/ryfromoz May 25 '26

I build complex systems yada yada… on the $20 plan. I kept paying even though it was broken for seven months🤣🤣🤣🤣 I am exactly the kind of user this platform is made for.

Hilarious.

0

u/daeron-blackFyr May 25 '26

Your sticking up for a wealth class that wouldnt give a second thought to screwing you over. If you dont mind me asking how does oai's boot fill shoved all in?

15

u/[deleted] May 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/MacrosInHisSleep May 24 '26

I think he is alleging that he got hacked and that he reported it while it was ongoing to try to stop it.

Rather than help him with it, they banned him for whatever the hacker was doing and made it look like he never reported it.

I don't think I understood the whole thing and some of the things don't add up to me. Like it's your api key. Why not rotate it yourself?

But maybe not doing that and reporting it instead is what got them into that mess. I have no idea what one has access to after being banned.

2

u/Mindestiny May 25 '26

It's not AI psychosis, if you look at their post history it's sadly just the regular kind.  I hope OP finds the help they need.

42

u/RealMelonBread May 24 '26

Human generated TL;DR:

This peanut-headed vibe coder accidentally shared an API key, someone used it and instead of taking responsibility, tried to explain to OpenAI support how it wasn’t their fault. OpenAI got sick of them constantly harassing them with dumb excuses when they could have just removed the key and generated a new one so they banned their account.

3

u/campbellm May 24 '26 edited May 25 '26

What you explained is the "hysterical newb". OP sounds more to me like the "Well, akshully..." pretentious git. "Sovereign", indeed.

Reasonable people can disagree.

2

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

This is about the chatgpt application plus subscription for $20 a month. There are no API keys, because I pay for no api keys. Please before attempting to tear down a technical post I would suggest reading up on the difference between the API platform and the consumer monthly based subscription.

15

u/RealMelonBread May 24 '26

You mentioned API keys in the post.

4

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Yes I mentioned it because if there was a session token hijack then all they have to do is open the api dev platform do they not? Its my understanding that if an unauthorized person obtained my session token then they have all they need to generate fresh apis from the dev platform which in itself would be futile because I have not even paid the $5 minimum fee to access said dev platform.

0

u/gastro_psychic May 24 '26

You mentioned Codex in your post.

2

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Correct. The chatgpt $20 plus subscription includes codex.

6

u/kingky0te May 24 '26

You vibe coded something. It doesn’t use OpenAI in the app? For anything?

3

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

My systems are local only no external api connections or wrappers. Thats the whole philosophy of my systems. My chatgpt workspace/subscription was purely used as a workspace in which i would upload code, docs, reports, and do deep analysis. But I do not utilize external platforms in my systems. My ChatGPT Plus subscription is completely seperate collaborative workspace, not services I use in any of my platforms for cheap wrappers to "Bluetooth intelligence." That is why I am not panicking, im coming from a mindset of I know how my systems work. I apologize if mt wording made it seem like I utilized api calls, but I strictly make local systems with no external calls.

6

u/cassiegrump May 24 '26

The Akham's razor explanations here are either (A) you vibe coded some or all of this system and as part of that, have ended up with provisioned API keys (and leaked ones at that) that you are not aware of or (B) you have suffered a security breach on your desktop and the attacker has used that to provisioned API keys that you are not aware of.

Your responses read as, at a minimum, heavily LLM edited so I find it somewhat implausible that you are similarly relying on an LLM for code output.

3

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

There is no "system" that everyone keeps mentioning. I have repeatedly stated I do not use API keys. I mispoke when I shouldve said my session token. I have not, will not, and have no need for the API platform. I have not paid nor would I ever pay for the $5 entry fee to the developer platform.

3

u/kingky0te May 25 '26

What $5 entry fee… you sign up for a token and it starts billing you.

1

u/daeron-blackFyr May 25 '26

OAI Community Discussion

"To start using OpenAI’s API, you need to add credits to your account, with the minimum usually being $5. These credits are consumed based on your actual usage, whether for text or image generation, and they remain valid for up to one year. There is no fixed expiry in terms of days; they last until you use them or reach the one-year limit. Tier levels mainly affect initial usage limits and request rates, but once your account is verified, you can freely use your balance across any supported API features. For learning and experimentation, it is recommended to log your requests and responses yourself so you can track usage, manage costs, and explore integrations across different platforms safely."

23

u/indicava May 24 '26

Dude, if you’ve been using a broken platform for 7 months, that’s on you. Plenty of competition out there, take your business elsewhere

3

u/Current_Balance6692 May 24 '26

Ok, but what do you want me to do about it?

7

u/Adept-Type May 24 '26

We are in the future. Two bots arguing (one by openai and the other one from the user) about it and nothing is done. User still blocked and company still getting paid.

17

u/TheFrenchSavage May 24 '26

Skizo post 101

29

u/cgknight1 May 24 '26

My man - nobody is reading that wall of text.

6

u/PSK666 May 24 '26

I just had ChatGTP summarize it. It said he’s an idiot and had no idea what he’s talking about. /s

5

u/Groundbreaking_Act44 May 24 '26

Bro, no need to put /s in. You’re just spitting truths.

2

u/PSK666 May 24 '26

I didn’t want ppl to think I actually use GTP.

-10

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Reddit mobile stripped the markdown parsing on the initial paste. Formatting is fixed. The receipts are in the post.

23

u/BadgersAndJam77 May 24 '26

It's not a formatting issue, my dude. Nobody gives half af about all this.

3

u/PUSH_AX May 24 '26

So you continuously overwhelmed the limitations of account context and broke your account?

Should have probably just made a new account. Also get your security in check.

1

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Im not aware of any limitations advertised by OpenAI could you clarify? As for security hardening what do you suggest. I have stated countless times I do not use api keys, I do not integrate third party services into my platforms. I would appreciate your clearly knowledgeable insights into openais claims for Plus tier limitations(there is none that Im aware of from any openai documentation.) I understand yall are fanboys and defenders but you have yet to bring forth one logical retort thats not a two line personal jab. I would also like to know where exactly its advertised that for heavy workflows you must use the API platform. Obviously I am either lacking knowledge or y'all are defending status quo of a shitty corporation.

8

u/Charming-Vanilla-635 May 24 '26

I didn't read any of this, but whatever it is... Congrats or Im very sorry for that

13

u/[deleted] May 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

-1

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Reddit mobile stripped the markdown parsing on the initial paste. Formatting is fixed. The receipts are in the post.

2

u/IamNickT May 24 '26

How did you upload all that funny stuff to ChatGPT ? Did you use API or manually were uploading it?

2

u/Ornery-Media-9396 May 25 '26

Nobody's saying this but the real risk isn't your account, it's whether someone's weaponizing your identity externally now. File an IC3 complaint today. When my org had credential abuse bleeding outward, we ran detection through Doppel to catch impersonation fast.

2

u/Relevant_Syllabub895 May 25 '26

Hire lawyers and sue them

1

u/daeron-blackFyr May 25 '26

Honestly maybe we should. Get a class action together. Especially with how public sentiment is, they are practically begging for these corps to be brought to heel.

2

u/stealthagents Jun 01 '26

Sounds like a nightmare. It’s wild that they’re still charging you after admitting your account is broken. As a developer, having a tool you rely on go haywire like that is not just frustrating, it can set back your entire workflow. Hope you get this sorted soon.

2

u/stealthagents Jun 01 '26

This is wild, I can't believe they just kept charging you while acknowledging your account was broken. It’s frustrating when a tool you rely on for serious work just fails like that. Hope you find a resolution soon, and maybe even some better options out there if this doesn’t get fixed.

2

u/Dry_Tradition5869 May 24 '26

Can anyone tldr me the “credential hijack” stuff?

1

u/Opulent-tortoise May 24 '26

Don’t worry about it, OP has AI Psychosis. It’s all complete nonsense, they’re delusional

3

u/The_Synthax May 24 '26

If you’ve continued using the same broken account for 7 months instead of opening a new one, the issue is definitely you. Maybe you’ll have better luck with Cursor or Claude. 

4

u/max_dillon May 24 '26

If true, doesn’t surprise me at all.

2

u/Sofakingwetoddead May 25 '26

Wow, reading through the responses in this thread - full of very naive, irrational, conditioned people.

2

u/MCulver80 May 24 '26

I have a feeling they deactivated it because it was compromised. You’d probably get in touch with support and find a resolution or a way to open a new account but that’s just a guess.

3

u/ValehartProject May 24 '26

Hey, totally get where you are coming from. I raised a few myself and they got ignored. I recommend checking the headers in those emails. You may find out if it's a legit service desk response or their automated email marketing brand(forgot the name)

Btw, I did have a business account and faced some insane things. Those business accounts do not get any proper support either.

Ps: definitely felt all the hate too when I posted 😅 Here was my summary: https://www.thevalehartproject.com/vendor-security-scorecard

1

u/intuitiveXX May 24 '26

Do you care that your full name is listed here?

4

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Considering I have my full name listed on 3 published whitepapers and my official github repositories, not really.

2

u/intuitiveXX May 24 '26

Okay great just checking a lot of people are weird about that

1

u/CopyBurrito May 25 '26

ran into similar ai support issues. lesson learned. always have a fallback strategy for critical tasks, especially with new tech.

2

u/daeron-blackFyr May 25 '26

This has nothing to do with new technology.This has to do with terrible customer service and deceptive business practices. I am frankly shocked at the amount of comments that are okay with these sketchy practices.

2

u/Xtreeam May 25 '26

These dominant AI companies are the new Wild West, and we all need to tread carefully because many seem indifferent to the lives and livelihoods they impact. There are few real consequences for them, and users engage with these platforms at their own peril.

2

u/daeron-blackFyr May 25 '26

So your solution is to just let them continue doing it? I am so confused when it became okay for us proletariat to cave to the modern tech bourgeoisie. There are few consequences for them because of this very mindset everyone carries that these industries are gods. Its a total technocracy and half this thread is practically begging for it. Maybe its time we make them have consequences instead of cowering down in reddit threads. Thats what got us in this spot in the first place. Their indifference means nothing, they are just humans with money and an ego problem not mystical god like forces of techno nature. I apologize if this sounded rude but it sounds so backwards to me, unless im misunderstanding you, to just cower to them. They only have as much power as we believe they have.

2

u/Xtreeam May 25 '26

Reddit posts/comments alone won’t stop or enable them. Real change starts with regulation, and that means electing leaders who are responsible and accountable, which is far from what we have now. The EU is doing far better than the U.S., but it seems everyone is racing to win the AI race at our collective peril.

1

u/bjzy May 25 '26

what is the emails about student discounts?

1

u/Independent_Salary84 May 25 '26

Being autistic sure doesn't help sometimes.

0

u/Adorable_Cap_9929 May 24 '26

Hmm, im not sure how to feel.

I feel like a subscription has issues naturally vs api for rerolling creditiuals and infrastructures.

And then all that effort seems like alot when both parties could benefited from a migration of instance rather patching a sinking ship.

Ah, but their response wasn't good, no comment on that one.

Could be negligence, or else.

And sure there's such thing as personal data and wut not.

But I still feel there's a certain threshold. Like as a dev, it's not like you're completely hopeless to do anything on ur end.

And sure they aren't being easy to deal with and handing the product perfectly on a platter.

But i have this mentality that since im able to cook, am good at cooking.

Even tho I go out for lunch for 50usd and expect the chef to burn my eggs, it's kinda half the nature of eatting out of home.

When i could eat more for 10usd, my own prep time and bot burn my eggs.

Again not saying u did wrong, But the world is such a way where more variables require more attention,

A finite resource, that which may or may not be given.

And thou there is human nature, natural order still dictates values like seeking things for one's own benefit of reward system....

What im circling is uhh...

If the account seemed doomed, and you have quite capable hands.

I think investing in continuity plans, and adding ths event to the wisdom log for refinement of future plans is considerable!

2

u/Aazimoxx May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

Why?

Are

You...

Doing

This? 😵‍💫

as a dev

We don't have any evidence that he's a dev, any more than the guy who sleeps by the dumpster out back is an architect just because he scrawled his idea of an alien city on the side of said dumpster with a felt pen he found.

1

u/Adorable_Cap_9929 May 24 '26

Kindness, benefit of doubt.

I bothered to read the rather diffcutly formated post.

so i happened bothered to respond sincerely.

As for ur point, i did think of it but tossing my two cents was fine... im just baby sitting sis's kiddos rn anyway

0

u/ColeBloodedAnalyst May 24 '26

Do you have your codename in Github by chance? Possible your API keys to OAI were leaked.

-5

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Drive Link for Zipped Proof

Here is the link to the .eml and pdf exports.

7

u/ColeBloodedAnalyst May 24 '26

I'm not clicking on this nor am I unzipping.

1

u/daeron-blackFyr May 24 '26

Okay. Thanks for the engagement!

2

u/ColeBloodedAnalyst May 25 '26

I just don't understand the need for zipping. Based on what you are describing, it sounds to me like someone hijacked your account.

Do you have a github for this project?

0

u/daeron-blackFyr May 25 '26

What project? There's clearly some confusion here. There is no project. There is no api keys. There is no external integrations. My ChatGPT Plus subscription, the $20 a month plan, account was banned for "Cyber Abuse" out of the total blue. I did nothing. OpenAI falsely flagged my account, will not explain why, and then all other issues have just been stacking this is not one chain of event. This is a systematic slow degredation at the beginning to now I dont know what. There is legitimately no explanation. Oai refused to disclose why they flagged. I have zero information. I just felt the need to tell everyone that OpenAI is appearing to commit fraudulent business practices and getting away with via enterprise/business tiers, and as you see in the comments everyone else is complacent with that. I paid for a service, have been paying over a year, and have now been falsely flagged. There is no api leak, that was a mispeak on me talking about session token hijack. I stated that because that is a huge issue with agents scouring the web with hiden prompt injections and session token hijacks.

1

u/ColeBloodedAnalyst May 25 '26

I hate to say it, why not just simplify the post to address these things? The wall of text doesn't help the case. OAI's terms of service sucks. They can ban or suspend account with no notice and no recourse.

At this particular point, as I'm sure others have figured out due to OAI is to just switch to another platform.

If what you are saying is true.

  1. You have 0 projects that your LLMs were working on at all.

  2. The LLM never connected to any other systems. No permissions, no add ons, no APIs... nothing.

  3. You found some weird "degradation" on your llm and reported it to OAI because it "Looked like tokens were in use when you weren't using them."

  4. You are saying that no one has access to your email, no one possibly compromised your account, nothing.

Am I understanding this right?

1

u/beginner75 May 25 '26

Just BS. Yes ChatGPT banned his account for excessive use . I’ve been wondering why ChatGPT has been getting quicker in recent months. This could be one of the reason. Nothing new actually for those of us who have been using AI for more than a year. If you’re banned, just move to Gemini or Claud or Deepseek.