My journey on LinkedIn started well over a decade ago, and it’s been a smooth journey until a few months ago. The social network was an interesting medium for connecting with like-minded individuals from all walks of life while sharing business posts and my latest creative work. In September 2024, my account was suspended.
It happened out of the blue, without notice or warning whatsoever. I published a post stating that I’m growing my team and looking to hire a designer, a videographer, an event manager for my upcoming live events, and sales reps. Approximately three hours after I posted, I couldn’t access my account any longer.
Upon login, I was asked to provide a government ID.
“That’s strange”, I thought to myself while going through a quick mental checklist.
I have not used a VPN to access and post on LinkedIn that day.
I have not posted something that violates LinkedIn’s T&C.
I haven’t spammed other accounts with idiotic messages.
I knew that “hacking” my account was nearly impossible as I used an external hardware authentication device for multi-factor authentication.
So, what had happened?
Why was my account suspended?
And more importantly:
How can I regain access to my LinkedIn account without providing a government ID?
The Data Goldmine
Unless you’ve spent the last two decades under a rock, you should be super familiar with the concept of social platforms harvesting and harnessing tremendous amounts of data.
Yep, my personal data. Your personal data. Your neighbors, colleagues, friends, and supposedly enemies’ personal data.
If you’ve never used a social platform, a messaging app, or a smartphone, or if you’ve never downloaded apps from the Google Play Store or the Apple store, you might be less exposed to the wonderful land of “data mining”.
The data tech behemoths from Silicon Valley, Seattle, Beijing, and Hong Kong (just to name a few) thrive on our data. If you still think Whatsapp, Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, and the likes are free, think harder.
For now, verifying an account is optional. I’m not convinced this will remain as such for far too long, but that’s an entirely different topic.
As I’m not a fan of providing biometrics and other additional info to these companies, I decided to find a way to regain access to my account without uploading a government ID.
Reaching out to LinkedIn via X/Twitter
First, I consulted with my lawyer. She found the whole thing quite suspicious.
Next, I tried to contact LinkedIn’s help center via different pages. My business page remained online all this time, however, as it was linked to my personal account and a specific email address, there was no way I could send the form to LinkedIn.
After several of my attempts to reach out to LinkedIn directly failed, I found a thread on Reddit where users were complaining about their LinkedIn accounts being banned and not being able to reach the company. Someone suggested they try to use Twitter to connect with LinkedIn.
I fired up my X account aka former Twitter and looked for different LinkedIn handles. This is how I came across the handle @LinkedInHelp and sent them a DM.
One week after my initial DM got no response, I sent a second DM to the same account. Two weeks later I received a response on X and via email – the one I used to login into my LinkedIn account.
The message read as follows:
Response (12/15/2024 11:15 CST)
Hi Krisz ,
I’m so sorry! We placed a restriction on your account in error, but you should be able to access it now. Please allow up to 48 hours for your connections and followers to be fully restored.
If you still can’t sign in, please let me know and I’ll help you get access to your account right away.
Regards,
XXX
LinkedIn Trust and Consumer Support Consultant
Social Media Utopia
To say that this entire fiasco was a fascinating “social dance” would be an understatement.
How ridiculous is it though, to use another social platform from an entirely different company to reach out to LinkedIn’s helpdesk?
Using X to regain access to my LinkedIn account was a smart move.
Maybe you could use Meta, Facebook, or Instagram to achieve a similar result, but that’s up to you to test.
Let’s stick to what has proven to work:
If you ever get banned or suspended from LinkedIn, try the X route.
Image by Greg Bulla via Unsplash
Originally published on my business blog at StrengthInBusiness.com
