I just got a notice that my rewards account got flagged and cannot be verified.
I do nothing egregious or even remotely offensive/illegal. I do have two different VPN accounts that I use along with a variety of browsers like Brave, Opera, Tor and Firefox. I do go to great lengths to avoid Google and anything they use to track my activities on my Windows computers & Android phones. We also never ever use any Chinese products such as anything from Apple etc.
We also stream via Firestick and Roku, but again all on the up & up with Zero illegal or even gray area sites.
I’d like to get my first steps into crypto working and again with none of the sketchy apps & sites. Thus my attempt to use Brave and it’s wallet(s) etc. to get started.
But again, I can’t validate my wallet so until then I am dead in the water.
Some quick examples of things that often result in flagged accounts can be:
Using a VPN, Proxy Server, or other such thing to hide or fake your location. This is because it can be seen as you trying to bypass ad restrictions. Remember, advertisers pay so content is shown to specific regions. When you appear to be in a region you’re not, it is taking advantage of the system to see ads and receive BAT you shouldn’t be getting.
Modifying folders. There are some things you’re encouraged to do but some people do dig deep and try modifying folders that affect your encryption key OR where Users think they can fool the system into thinking they’ve seen more ads or have more BAT in their browser than they really do. Whether intentional or accidental, messing with the wrong things will get your account flagged.
Your setup sends mixed information to Brave. For example, maybe you’re in the United States. Your IP address shows you in California, your language is English-IN, and your time zone is correct. This will tell Brave you should see ads from India but then it sees that you’re actually in California. At this point it will think you’re trying to trick the system to see more ads and might flag you. If nothing else, it can result in you not getting BAT for ads that you do see.
Cloning your browser. Some people have learned how to do unofficial backup & restore and have the “great idea” that they can make multiple copies of the same browser on different devices and then Verify them with a custodial wallet like Uphold or Gemini. The system recognizes this and will flag the account and prevent anything from happening. Of course, even if unintentional, creating two exact copies of the browser and encryption key will be seen as attempting to do this and will flag you. So never have two identical copies of the browser running.
Uphold or Gemini identifies your account as fraudulent and/or there’s a violation of laws.
Any other type of suspicious activity is recognized by the system or Brave staff.
That said, just like people, the system isn’t flawless and mistakes can happen. If you haven’t done anything wrong, you can always create a ticket
As mentioned originally, I am not doing anything “out of the ordinary” except for the VPN. I actually do live in Florida and I use the three big cities that surround me so 99% of the ads are appropriately directed my way. Ok perhaps I get one for the wrong store location but that sounds like a non-issue.
As to the browsers, I assume that TOR and Brave with a TOR connection should not be an issue or cause anything that might flag my account. I do use both for my investment transactions as I have been hacked previously and now use these two methods to help keep my information secure.
Thus my location Florida is valid, English-USA is always my language.
So that is it. Nothing else to consider beyond the above so what can I do to get the flag removed?