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A number of PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users have taken to sites like Reddit to report that their new PlayStation Network accounts are getting insta-banned upon creation and contacting Sony’s support has yielded no results. Some users have attempted to create numerous accounts via numerous devices using numerous email addresses, only to receive an instruction to reset their passwords, and then be greeted with a message informing them that their account has been banned.
I was first alerted to the issue by a friend who complained that they’re being repeatedly banned and haven’t been able to get through to Sony. Thinking it was an isolated incident, I ran a quick search and found numerous threads with similar complaints – all of which were made over the last month (fresh complaints are still rolling in at the time of this writing).
On the surface, the issue seems to be an IP ban but some users have tried creating fresh accounts from different IP addresses to no avail. My second assumption was them purchasing a preowned, banned console, but at least one of the users facing the issue purchased a brand new PS5 and another claimed to be a new PlayStation owner who purchased their PS4 from Best Buy. And again, users have attempted to create multiple accounts from multiple devices, and are facing the same issue without even attempting to log in via their consoles, so that theory doesn’t hold water. Additionally, from what I have gathered, the affected users are based both in and out of the United States so this isn’t a location-specific issue either.
The lucky folks who did manage to get through to a Sony support agent received a mix of answers.
“The support agent was extremely helpful and confirmed that the account had a temporary ban on it,” wrote Redditor skylinemonkey. “He agreed that the temporary ban was unusual because the account was brand new. He escalated my issue to some specialists and said the ban would be lifted in 24-48 hours.”
“To protect your account from potential suspicious activity an automated temporary ban was placed on it,” user LindV was told. “We will need to ask you a couple questions to confirm your account and make any updates if needed.”
It’s unusual for new accounts to be insta-banned for the reasons mentioned above. The problem seems to be affecting a small number of users but certainly isn’t an isolated incident. We’ll update this article when we figure out what’s happening here.
If you’ve experienced this issue, leave a comment below.