Vague email about flagged account

[dizzinea]

After 12 years on the platform, my account has been flagged and is now under review. 

The only changes I have made to anything came from the advice of a Fiverr select mentor.

The statement given is something about purchasing or selling with the intent to falsely increase ratings and/or levels. I've done absolutely nothing different in the last month that I have in the last year. What would this even mean? Has anyone spoken to support about such a thing and received some feedback as to what this would entail?

I've never asked for a review, haven't purchased anything on Fiverr in over 4 years...and of course, support has not gotten to my question yet.

I'd like to at least understand what this means if I'm about to lose 12 years and 13,000 orders worth of history.

[vickieito]

Hi @dizzinea, are you able to contact your Fiverr select mentor? I'm not sure how that mentoring program works, but when my account was shut down, my Seller Plus manager was able to look into it and gave me a bit more details. Luckily I was able to answer all questions and have my account restored within 4 days (it did take CS 2 days before responding to some of my messages). However, my account was shut down by a hacker, who withdrew my Earnings and closed the account with the reasoning of "I have multiple accounts," so my account was never put under review by the Trust & Safety Team (which can take up to 90 days to review each case).

Is there anyone else using the same IP address as you (who also has a Fiverr account)? What changes did you make to your gigs?

[imamiopial]

I think account restrictions/flags/under reviews notices should include proper reason with proof and an option to dispute the claim and counter with the account holder's own proof.

I can tell how much frustrating this is, Hope you get a fair resolution soon.

[donnovan86]

9 hours ago, dizzinea said:

The only changes I have made to anything came from the advice of a Fiverr select mentor.

 

What did the mentor say and what changes did you make?

[dizzinea]

4 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

What did the mentor say and what changes did you make?

Just basic things about the gig. Increasing price was a suggestion (I didn't take it) and they suggested selling commercial rights (I do voice acting). They had a few wording changes. They were fairly innocuous. Honestly, they happened nearly 6 months ago. This flagging business started within the last few weeks.

[dizzinea]

10 hours ago, vickieito said:

Hi @dizzinea, are you able to contact your Fiverr select mentor? I'm not sure how that mentoring program works, but when my account was shut down, my Seller Plus manager was able to look into it and gave me a bit more details. Luckily I was able to answer all questions and have my account restored within 4 days (it did take CS 2 days before responding to some of my messages). However, my account was shut down by a hacker, who withdrew my Earnings and closed the account with the reasoning of "I have multiple accounts," so my account was never put under review by the Trust & Safety Team (which can take up to 90 days to review each case).

Is there anyone else using the same IP address as you (who also has a Fiverr account)? What changes did you make to your gigs?

After 60 days, I didn't really find much additional value beyond the first month for the Select program. I already had a steady stream of folks.

The gig changes were months ago, but they included some wording changes (to better identify services to avoid revisions), increasing price, and charging for commercial rights. 

No one else is using is using my IP for Fiverr. =/

[vickieito]

@Lena - are you able to take a look at this on Fiverr's side? I know recently there have been some accounts wrongfully put under review and I'm wondering if that's the case for @dizzinea's account.

[smashradio]

The problem with this process seems to be that Fiverr prefers to shoot first and ask questions later. While I can certainly understand why, given the massive number of users and limited resources for support, the unwillingness to communicate with sellers "in trouble" has always been a big annoyance for many people.

When an account is put under review, Fiverr expertly tries to avoid that you contact them about it. "There's no need to contact support!" is a classic. Well... No need, you say? That might have been the case if Fiverr told you why the account was under review. But they don't.

It's the same with those pesky e-mails about Top Clients being removed.

When reputable sellers get in the crossfire, Fiverr as a system doesn't care if you accept it because losing you is cheaper than trying to work out any kinks with you.

Fiverr is one of the biggest websites in the world, and the alternative would be to hire an army of support representatives to deal with it. They won't, of course. And so we're stuck with the system for better or for worse.

Having a success manager to help you out in these situations is vital. In my opinion, it's like hiring a security guard for your business. Not having one is simply dangerous. 

[javierglocucion]

Hi Dizzinea. I am going through the very same. I have been on the platform for over 4 years with no issues till now. Can you give us an update? 

[mpb0707]

@dizzinea Hello, hope all is well! I came across your post while looking into a similar situation with my account.

Wondering if you ever got the matter with your account resolved and if CS provided any insight into why you received a warning without reason. 

[vickieito]

Hi @mpb0707 - Did you reach out to your Success Manager when that happened? They may be able to help find out why your account was shut down. I saw two sellers recently on the forum who reported being falsely accused of manipulating the rating system (and their accounts were restored once they were able to prove the legitimacy of their orders). One seller had a buyer who placed/closed 30 orders within a week and another seller had a repeat buyer who was using the same copy/paste review for two back-to-back orders. Both instances seemed to trigger an immediate flag of their account.

[mpb0707]

Hi @vickieito Hope all is well! Thanks for your response. I just joined the Seller Plus Premium program recently and will definitely be broaching this topic with my Success Manager during our next meeting.

Thankfully, my account has not been shut down, but I do have a warning on my account, which concerns me since I've had four warnings issued to me since June for "manipulating the rating system". Thankfully, CS removed the first three, but will not assist with this new one. I'm just nervous that due to the frequency of these false warnings, my account could be suspended at any time.

Based on the experiences of the two sellers you mentioned, my guess is that one my repeat buyers probably triggered the automated account flagging.

Thanks again! I really appreciate your advice and am glad to know that there is some hope to get the situation remedied even if I do receive another false warning.