My account has been suspended : "Feedback boosting violation"

[leacullero]

Dear Fiverr friends,

I am very worried and distressed. My account has been suspended when after a lot of effort I had started to receive orders.

I am new to Fiverr for only 2 months and was deeply surprised to receive this sanction, as up until this point, I had not received any previous warnings regarding any issues related to violations of the community guidelines.

Reason: Feedback boosting violation

According to the message I received, it mentions that this is the third warning I have received, which puzzles me even more, as I am not aware of having received any previous warnings. 

I was deeply surprised to receive this sanction, as up to this point I had not received any previous warnings related to violations of the community guidelines.

And now I have received 2 warnings in less than 20 minutes in a row.

I am hoping someone can help me with this issue which has me very stressed and sleepless. I hope it could be a misunderstanding or a mistake.

Thanks

[ana_tomy]

Hi @leacullero,

Please contact our Customer Support team, either by opening a ticket here or by sending an email to support@fiverr.com. 

Your account is now restricted and under review, since there are two violations of the same nature - Feedback Boosting.

The team will go through all the details and get back to you as soon as the review is completed.

Thanks for your patience ☺️

[leacullero]

Hi, thank you for responding so quickly. The truth is that I am super stressed with this issue and have not been able to sleep.

I have written to the support team but their response has been exactly the same. I am in a very delicate economic situation and just now that I had several customers and orders this happens to me. They tell me I have to wait 2 months and I can't afford to wait that long.

The support team tells me that if I can contact customers, it's not true, my account is totally blocked.

I just want to know what exactly I did wrong so I don't do it again. I find it very strict to suddenly suspend the account without notice.

I insist this morning I received 2 warnings in a row in less than 20 minutes and later the suspension.

Please help me  

 

[vickieito]

7 hours ago, leacullero said:

I just want to know what exactly I did wrong so I don't do it again. I find it very strict to suddenly suspend the account without notice.

Hi @leacullero, It looks like all of your gigs were offering services that violated Fiverr's ToS: B2C lead generation.

While you can offer services for B2B email lists, B2C email lists are not allowed. I noticed that two of your titles mentioned B2C email generation (and since all 4 gigs mention "email lists," all 4 probably violated this rule). This is looking at the cached version of your seller profile. It looks like all of your gigs have now been removed from your current profile.

7 hours ago, leacullero said:

I received 2 warnings in a row

7 hours ago, ana_tomy said:

there are two violations of the same nature - Feedback Boosting

In addition to your gigs, the two warnings related to "Feedback Boosting" may have happened because you may have mentioned "5-star" review, asked for a positive review in exchange for your services, or asked buyers to leave a positive review if they enjoyed your services.

Sellers may ask buyers to rate their services, but they can't ask buyers to leave a certain review (e.g., 5-star or positive review). Buyers are free to leave whatever review they feel reflects their experience and sellers are not allowed to manipulate these reviews in any way. Fiverr is very strict about this policy, especially with recent changes to the review system (that makes it easier for buyers to leave lower reviews).

It's best to review all of Fiverr's ToS before offering services on Fiverr to avoid offering prohibited services (or having your account flagged for review). Normally it takes 60-90 days for an account to be reviewed, and in many cases, the accounts are permanently suspended. Accounts that did not violate any of Fiverr's ToS (i.e., you account was falsely flagged), can be restored after the 60-90 day review.

[leacullero]

Thank you vickieito for your thorough response and for shedding light on the issues surrounding the suspension of my account.

I appreciate the clarification regarding the violation of Fiverr's Terms of Service (ToS) related to B2C lead generation services. While I deeply regret any unintentional breach of Fiverr's policies, it was genuinely not my intention to offer prohibited services. Prior to this notification, I was unaware that offering B2C email lists was against Fiverr's guidelines. Notably, I observed several sellers, including some with PRO status, offering similar services, which led me to assume that such services were permissible.                                                                                      

 

Nevertheless, I understand now that compliance with Fiverr's policies is essential, and I am fully committed to adhering to them going forward. Therefore, I am willing to remove any B2C lead generation services from my gigs and focus solely on providing B2B email lists.

Regarding the warnings related to "Feedback Boosting," I want to clarify that I have not engaged in any activities that solicit specific review ratings or ask for positive reviews in exchange for services. This is a policy that I have been mindful of since creating my account, and I have never violated it. It is possible that there has been a misunderstanding or error in flagging my account for this issue. I would appreciate any further clarification or investigation into this matter.

I would also like to address the lengthy account review process. As someone who relies on Fiverr for income, the prospect of waiting 60-90 days for a review outcome is concerning, especially considering the potential permanency of account suspensions. Given that my account may have been flagged erroneously, I kindly request that you expedite the review process if possible, as the prolonged suspension greatly impacts my livelihood.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to a resolution that allows me to resume my activities on Fiverr.

[donnovan86]

12 minutes ago, leacullero said:

Nevertheless, I understand now that compliance with Fiverr's policies is essential, and I am fully committed to adhering to them going forward. Therefore, I am willing to remove any B2C lead generation services from my gigs and focus solely on providing B2B email lists.

That's not how it works unfortunately. If you break the rules, espeically multiple times, Fiverr will take action. 

I don't want to be a downer, but if an account is under review or banned, the chances of getting it back are very minimal. Only Fiverr's team can tell if there was an error or not. So.. all you can do is wait.

 

[leacullero]

Thank you donnovan86 for your continued assistance and clarification regarding the suspension of my account.

Given the lengthy timeframe of up to 90 days for the review process and the urgency of my financial situation, I am compelled to explore alternative options. Considering the possibility of a prolonged suspension and the significant impact it has on my livelihood, I would like to inquire whether it might be advisable to create a new account and ensure strict compliance with all Fiverr policies from the outset.

While I deeply regret any unintentional breaches that led to the suspension of my current account, I am committed to upholding Fiverr's guidelines and providing quality services to buyers within the platform's framework. Starting anew would afford me the opportunity to demonstrate this commitment while also mitigating the financial strain caused by the suspension.

I understand that this decision ultimately lies with Fiverr's team, but I would appreciate any guidance or insight you can provide on the matter. Your assistance in this challenging situation is invaluable, and I am grateful for your continued support.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to your guidance on the best course of action.

[filipdevaere]

30 minutes ago, leacullero said:

I would like to inquire whether it might be advisable to create a new account

Only one account is allowed. If your existing account is terminated (after 90 days), your Fiverr journey is over.

[leacullero]

This all seems too cruel to me.

How is it possible to suspend an account definitively without prior warning and without even knowing what you are doing wrong?

I have no problem to modify my gigs and continue working with other services. 

In particular, I noticed that several vendors, some of them professionals, were offering services exactly like mine, which led me to assume that such services were allowed.                                                                       

This person is a PRO seller and his service works and has not been suspended.

I have not only my service suspended but also my account.

I don't understand ANYTHING

[catwriter]

16 minutes ago, leacullero said:

In particular, I noticed that several vendors, some of them professionals, were offering services exactly like mine, which led me to assume that such services were allowed.

That particular seller offers various interactive materials where individuals give their email address willingly, in exchange for something. Did you offer the same, or did you merely offer to send a list of private email addresses?

[leacullero]

no, what I do is to use scrapping techniques with professional payment platforms. It is a very expensive task.

But still this is not the problem if I can't do this service I'm fine with them telling me but please don't suspend my account.

Can someone help me?

[ana_tomy]

Hi @leacullero,

We expect for all Fiverr members to get familiar with our Terms of Service and Forum Rules once they begin their journey.

This expectation is set for this reason more than anything, and to avoid any violations and to keep all users safe while using our platform.

3 hours ago, leacullero said:

Given that my account may have been flagged erroneously, I kindly request that you expedite the review process if possible, as the prolonged suspension greatly impacts my livelihood.

The 90-day review is used to determine if the warning/restriction is valid, since there's a slight chance that the system activated the warning automatically and in error.

However, if you make the same violation twice it's unlikely to get your account back.

All you can do now is sit tight and wait to hear back from the Customer Support team.

Good luck 🍀

[leacullero]

I have received 2 warnings in less than 30 minutes in a row, is this normal?

this is necessarily a system error.

Why do I have to wait 90 days?

Edited February 11 by leacullero

[vickieito]

Hi @leacullero,

Please read Fiverr's ToS, Community Standards, and Forum rules here:

https://www.fiverr.com/legal-portal/legal-terms/terms-of-service

https://www.fiverr.com/community/standards

https://community.fiverr.com/forum_rules

It worries me that you first offer services that are not allowed on Fiverr, then you have two back-to-back violations regarding feedback boosting, then wonder if you should open another Fiverr account (also against Fiverr's ToS), and also include the gig link of another seller to call them out (in violation of forum rule #6). Please read all of Fiverr's rules to make sure you don't keep violating rules that Fiverr sets for its community. This doesn't look good when Fiverr is reviewing your account for compliance. Fiverr may see you as someone who will keep breaking rules if you continue down this path.

Take a break. Breathe. Read the ToS. I know how concerning it can be for your Fiverr account to be taken away but you have to do things the right way if there's even an inkling that you could get your account back. I had my account shut down by a hacker last year who made it look like me (not flagged for violations), and it took some time to get the account restored and verified again. It was tough having all my orders in queue canceled with no way to contact my buyers. Fiverr Customer Support was also taking several days to respond to each inquiry. However, I knew it would violate ToS if I had too many messages or help desk tickets on the same subject, so I allowed Fiverr to respond when they could and only messaged them if they responded to my previous message.

5 hours ago, ana_tomy said:

The 90-day review is used to determine if the warning/restriction is valid, since there's a slight chance that the system activated the warning automatically and in error.

Fiverr does sometimes falsely flag accounts for violating ToS, especially when it comes to review manipulation. Sometimes it's the action/communication of the buyer. I've seen several sellers who posted on the forum who were able to show that they did not engage in review manipulation (and their accounts were restored within a matter of weeks). One seller had a buyer who was copying/pasting the same reviews for every order. So it wasn't even the seller's fault.

If I were you @leacullero, I'd go through every conversation between you and your buyers and any review that a buyer left to see if it triggered the system. You can share it here (but block out your buyers' names to be compliant with forum rules).  If you have sufficient evidence that you did not engage in feedback boosting, you may be able to remove the flags from your account. 

[catwriter]

7 hours ago, leacullero said:

no, what I do is to use scrapping techniques

And that's strictly forbidden. It's in the community guidelines, under "Prohibited Services".

4 hours ago, leacullero said:

I have received 2 warnings in less than 30 minutes in a row, is this normal?

this is necessarily a system error.

It doesn't have to be an error. Something triggers the system, then someone checks it out and sees another violation... It happens.

4 hours ago, leacullero said:

Why do I have to wait 90 days?

 

Everybody has to wait for up to 90 days when something like this happens. Investigation takes time, and you're not the only seller they're investigating.

[leacullero]

39 minutes ago, catwriter said:

And that's strictly forbidden. It's in the community guidelines, under "Prohibited Services".

5 hours ago, leacullero said:

are you sure that scraping is forbidden in fiver? 

[vickiespencer]

 

 

12 minutes ago, leacullero said:

are you sure that scraping is forbidden in fiver? 

[uk1000]

51 minutes ago, leacullero said:

are you sure that scraping is forbidden in fiver? 

Scraping by itself isn't against the Fiverr TOS (unless it's against the TOS of a site that you'd do it on or against some other rule)

Fiverr has a subcategory of Data->Data Scraping. So they've added a specific subcategory for it.

But as was said above, in their community standards (https://www.fiverr.com/community/standards/prohibited-services)

it's the scraping of social media accounts (or of personal info of individuals) that isn't allowed.

Edited February 11 by uk1000

[webcut]

@leacullero Can you share a screenshot of your gig/services so I can tell the exact gig reason! I am providing same B2B Lead Generation services.

I faced earlier some issue with my gig even got 1 warning few months ago.

The keyword that goes against Fiverr T&C are:-

1. Social Media Scraping (FB/Instagram/LinkedIn/X Scraping)\

2. B2C Leads (Previously it is allowed but currently that is not allowed in Fiverr with New T&C)

3. Asking Positive or 5 Star Feedback

4. Feedback Exchange Proposal to another Seller

5. Personal Information Sharing like Personal Phone, Personal Email (Confidential Document).

In some cases you can take like Agent finding. I work for Real Estate Agent, Insurance Agent, Investor which allows to take their contact info bcz they display their personal contact information in their website/directory. But you can't sell personal info / confidential info which is not allowed.

Even you can sell Business Email, Business Phone etc.

Hope you will get a proper solution from my feedback.

Thanks 🙂

[catwriter]

1 hour ago, leacullero said:

are you sure that scraping is forbidden in fiver? 

Not all scraping is forbidden. What you did is forbidden, though.

Think about it: how would you like it if someone sold your private email address, or personal phone number, to whoever paid for it, and then you start receiving more spam, some random people start calling you and offering you something you don't want...? Would you think that it was okay? What would you want to say to the person who sold your personal contact information without asking you for permission? Or, how about someone selling your sister's or your mother's personal contact information, even though they have never consented to that?

Oh, and something else to keep in mind: just because you see that someone is doing something (and possibly getting away with it), doesn't mean that it's all right to do it. Someone might get away with robbing a bank, or with selling drugs on the street, but it's still illegal, and people who get caught get punished.

[webcut]

17 minutes ago, catwriter said:

Not all scraping is forbidden. What you did is forbidden, though.

Think about it: how would you like it if someone sold your private email address, or personal phone number, to whoever paid for it, and then you start receiving more spam, some random people start calling you and offering you something you don't want...? Would you think that it was okay? What would you want to say to the person who sold your personal contact information without asking you for permission? Or, how about someone selling your sister's or your mother's personal contact information, even though they have never consented to that?

Oh, and something else to keep in mind: just because you see that someone is doing something (and possibly getting away with it), doesn't mean that it's all right to do it. Someone might get away with robbing a bank, or with selling drugs on the street, but it's still illegal, and people who get caught get punished.

You are right. Only personal info we can collect or sell if the person is sharing their information. For example a Real Estate Agent, Broker, Insurance Agent etc. They display their personal info in different directory site. This is legally correct. But if anyone sell the personal info without permission or premade or sharing to 3rd party- this goes under Fiverr Violation.

The same way if we do Web Scraping, Data Scraping from website based that is not a violation. But if we do same job for social media like FB/Instagram/X/LinnkedIn then surely we are breaking the rules and sharing personal info to others.

[catwriter]

10 hours ago, webcut said:

The same way if we do Web Scraping, Data Scraping from website based that is not a violation.

Unless that website forbids data scraping. Some of them do, so it's best to be careful.