I need some advice. My WhatsApp account (main number) got banned suddenly after I was setting up WhatsApp Pay/UPI. During the setup, it asked me for my date of birth, and since I was half-asleep, I accidentally typed 2017 instead of 2007.
Right after that, my account got blocked. I later realized it’s because WhatsApp probably thought I was underage (like 7–8 years old). But in reality, I am well above the minimum required age.
Here’s what I’ve done so far:
I submitted the grievance form multiple times.
I kept getting automated AI replies that don’t help.
I already wrote to the grievance officer saying I can provide my passport as proof of my real DOB (2007).
Now I’m just waiting for a human review.
My questions:
Has anyone faced this issue before?
How long does WhatsApp usually take to resolve something like this?
Will they restore my account once I provide my passport with the correct DOB?
Is there any faster way to escalate to a real human officer instead of AI loops?
This is my main number and I’ve never spammed, used mods, or abused anyone. I don’t even swear in chats. This whole thing was just a mistake and now I’m stuck without WhatsApp.
I don’t even swear in chats, and I don’t go around messaging random numbers as well, this is by far the only thing, that I can remember, and it almost happened instantly, I got a message saying , you are not of legal age to use whatsapp and and my account got banned
not banned but just wouldn’t receive OTP via text or call for 2-3 months! the help is just there for namesake and they keep repeating the same shit regardless of what information you provide. this happened as I reset the old phone and tried login on a new device. Android.
did nothing for a few months and even got a new number just for WhatsApp purposes in the interim. tried one fine day and got access again. the first thing I did was to link e-mail and set-up 2FA.
Why integrating AI if it can’t even solve issues well, heard mark hired Open AI employees and they created this ig, tch, I kept browsing and many users faced similar issues, i hope my case gets resolved
iOS by any chance? There’s a common issue with iOS and WhatsApp OTP. Easily fixable by disabling iMessages completely and spam filtering I think. I think it mainly happens when switching phones.
I dont think so as you aren’t signing up for an adult site requiring 18+ age nor applying for any bank/govt. accounts.
just fyi on my secondary account the dob I could remember was 2017 or so and I’m a member of countless groups and chat meaning was using it just normally.
I could recall to and relate this incidences to those scammy Instagram solutions where one needs to post with his real name, aadhar and inst id and email it to some instagram so called official email to have your account unblocked. People fell for this trick and lost millions and their other email/social accounts.
I have not given any of my documents, but afaik, this ban only happened after I tried to register for UPI, problem might have been the DOB mismatch or system flagged me as a minor, other than that, Idk what terms and conditions I didn’t follow, I don’t spam anyone, I don’t even use swear words in chats, waiting for a reply from human officers, All I get is AI generated half baked replies that are repeating the same thing
Man, this is new age problem of using software agents in mass scale to handle issues where human intervention is required. Sorry to know about your situation.
Did you try to reach them through email from whatsapp website contact page ? Though I don’t have any positive expectations from this.
I really wish it takes off. Before anybody thinks I’m shilling for the govt, it is because having competition makes them think twice before pulling shenanigans like this. I don’t care if the competition is Aratta or Signal or something else.
WhatsApp is the only practical option and many people are forced to use it grudgingly and they know it.
Samething with Google, they know most people cannot afford the shift to only other alternative so they are pulling shit like Android developer verification & blocking alternate installation methods.
Indian apps have some privacy concerns, as per news.
We needs an open secure protocol based one, those can interoperate with other similar apps which use same protocol.
The code wasn’t getting triggered from WhatsApp. I could receive all other text messages and calls at the time.
It could’ve been because something must have been triggered when the phone was reset without logging out of WhatsApp. It happened with multiple phones over that period of time.
I will try and find emails of the chat transcripts and a few mails. It was frustrating. Like talking to a wall.
TO UPDATE : I got my account back - whatsapp sent a message on 1:30 am asking me to login..
Here’s what I did:
Mailing to grievance officer about the issue - India , make sure you explain the situation well..
Contact whatsapp support , meta integrated AI to deduct suspicious activities, the early replies you get instantly is from bots, I mailed again for manual review
Your old chats may or may not be back, I got my account without any chats, even though I backed up those, I am basically setting up a new account..
Took me around 1-2 months to get mine back, maybe there is ‘penalty’ period that gets you banned for the particular time, but this is it
Now for a few days run the whatsapp as is and try restoring your old backup and see if it works.
Moral of the story- don’t be half-asleep, half-naked, half-hungry doing date sensitive biz because more than half-mistakes in this world happens from the bed or been asleep.
