Microsoft Account Locked (Compliance Lock)

Reported
Anonymous
2019-12-24T10:53:59+00:00

Hi,

When logging in to any Microsoft service I receive the message:

Your account has been locked

We’ve detected some activity that violates our Microsoft Services Agreement and have locked your account.

Unlocking your account

To unlock your account, you’ll need some additional assistance. Navigate to "aka.ms/compliancelock" and we’ll get you to the right place.

When I follow the link and fill out the form I received the reply that I violated the Code of Conduct and won't be able to access the services anymore. Any charges to my linked credit card will be stopped.

It does not tell me how I violated the Code of Conduct, nor does it tell me how to reinstate my account, while the form I filled out is called "account reinstatement". It also does not tell me how to retrieve my data.

The form states: "Your account has been suspended for suspicious activity, sending unsolicited emails, or for violating of Microsoft’s Terms of Use agreement, such as hosting photos, video or other content in violation of the Code of Conduct."

I'm pretty sure though I did not send SPAM or hosted/posted/shared inappropriate content. As for suspicious activity, I'm not sure what is included here, but I'm a basic user of the services.

What I would like to know is:

  1. How did I violate the CoC? In my opinion you can't just cut people off without providing a clear argument on what happened. As far as I can tell I did not violate any of the 10 commandments listed in the CoC.
  2. This account has existed for 23 years and never before has it been reviewed for any violation (that I know of). How can you just disable it and tell me I will never be able to use it again? (without providing any reason)
  3. How will I retrieve my data and access my purchased and payed for licenses?
    • Hotmail email conversations (not a priority as I don't use it for email and my last email sent was from March).
    • Onedrive data, including pictures of the early days of my children's lives. (I pay for additional storage)
    • Access to my Azure resources, connected to my MSDN subscription.
    • My (payed) Skype-In phone number I use for my business.
    • My MCP ID and transcript. This is my professional learning transcript but also counts towards my company's Microsoft Parnter Network competencies.
    • My digitally purchased XBOX games and apps (not a priority)

I've called and chatted with support, local and world-wide, for different services, but all are receiving the same answer from the CDOC team, as can be found under ticket number ***removed for privacy***, which I find unacceptable.

It's been 14 days now... Please help!

Regards,

Reinto_123

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Account management, security, and privacy

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-10-02T00:13:14+00:00

    Dear Regile,

    I got the same problem on my microsoft account.

    Cannot access anymore to office 365, to onedrive, to hotmail and some functions of my surface pro.

    French team told me they are unable to help so i have created this new account to contact you in order to solve this problem.

    Thanks in advance for your help,

    Julien

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-09-30T21:42:36+00:00

    Anyone went to court? what happened?

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-09-26T21:06:07+00:00

    I don’t know if this makes anyone feel better, worse, or either, but YouTube is having a pretty similar powertrip. I could dive into what the details are, but basically what they and Microsoft have in common now is that they’re both taking accounts down rapidly (only Microsoft’s reasons for takedowns are absolutely not specified at all, YouTube’s aren’t either but that have slightly more variety) and they both get a thrill from maintaining their stupid and irrational decisions for banning plenty of accounts that NEVER violated any ToS as opposed to accounts that actually did. I hear it’s because they both have an extremely malfunctional algorithm that determines the fate of accounts.

    I’m not 100% sure how much YouTube has improved since they gained this reputation (starting about a month ago), but I know Microsoft has not gotten any better or more responsible. I know there’s nobody big enough to bring this to light, if there was, maybe Microsoft would open their ears a bit. Admittedly, they really do seem to never glance at this page and give any remote sympathy.

    I just thought YouTube would be something to compare and contrast to Microsoft as I continue to hope for my games, DLC, trophies, records, friends, files, Skype, and Office back.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-09-25T20:09:13+00:00

    So here is what I know after I have been locked out for 2 months, and from reading through this thread. 

    Microsoft is most likely never going to re-open your account.  If they have said you are locked out and that is it, there is only one thing left to do and that is at this link to ask for arbitration.  First you send in a Notice of Dispute letter, and then you get a response. I got the same response from that letter that I always get, "You violated the terms of service, we are not going to tell you what it was, and the case is closed"

    Now I have sent $200 to the Arbitration Association, in hopes of getting some clarity on what I did.  I don't expect to get my account back, but at least then I will know what I did wrong.  In theory Microsoft will send me a check for $200. So there is no cost to me.

    I will let you know what happens in the final arbitration step which should be completed in next couple months.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/arbitration

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-09-25T19:56:03+00:00

    Have you gotten anywhere with that?

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