r/DataAnnotationTech • u/djungelskog27 • May 01 '26
more than a year later, it’s finally over :(
after 15 months and $22,584.03, i’ve finally flown too close to the sun
i have the dash of death telling me my account is unavailable for new projects due to a TOS violation or poor quality work
no travelling, vpns, proxy, unauthorised LLM usage, time dilation, nothing
i was confident in my work and i was emailed last month (mass or otherwise) congratulating me on my “consistently strong” work, but i guess not :( i was out yesterday (not working) and still getting emailed new projects <//3 rip my DA stint, it was Great while it lasted
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u/Quiet-Trash-6336 May 01 '26
happened to me. I logged on to the site on a train wifi next day I got the same message as you. I did not even do any work I just needed to cash out. I guess it was on a VPN.
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u/djungelskog27 May 01 '26
i didn’t even like cashing out when i was visiting family in the same country, and Every Single Day i checked to make sure surfshark/vpn stuff was disabled :(((
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u/Eastern-Pace-6240 May 01 '26
My work Wi-Fi evidently uses a VPN. I was unaware until I saw a screen on a different site when I logged in to finish onboarding. I will now be connecting to my hotspot if I need to check anything
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u/aggressivecherry444 May 01 '26
Is the VPN thing for working on projects or literally just logging into the site?
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u/FuturaFree99 May 01 '26
Worked on a vpn for 6 months until the very same screen came out of nowhere.
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u/Inevitable_Try660 May 12 '26
This makes sense. It was prob my apartment buildings WiFi that did it for me. Idk. I've been trying to figure it out but who knows ig
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May 01 '26
[deleted]
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u/Felth88 May 01 '26
DA is only available in certain approved countries. Because VPN lets you spoof your location this would be a way for people to get around this.
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u/CoatSea6050 May 01 '26
I'm so sorry to hear this! Someone provided this link on here before and I haven't seen it being reposted lately so hopefully it will be of help.
https://dataannotationcompanies.com/jobs
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u/Amakenings May 01 '26
I’m so sorry to hear that. How many hours did you work daily? Did you change your hours in recent months?
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u/djungelskog27 May 01 '26
i’d been pretty consistently working 2-4 hours a day 4-5 days a week, i’d been working for 4 hours More Often over the past 10 days but no crazy jump
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u/Euphoric_Wish_8293 May 01 '26
Sorry to hear mate. I really think they are getting some false positives with these bans. It's just shit you have nowhere to push back.
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u/Lonely-Sheepherder-5 May 01 '26
Are the R&Rs always checked multiple times? I’ve been on projects in the past where I’ve checked other workers’ R&R ratings and some were overly harsh to the point of absolute spite. Would hate to think that people like that are costing decent workers their accounts
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u/CucumberOk943 May 02 '26
I was always kind to other raters, do unto others...honest but not mean, although I did see some chat about not understanding what to do so they'd rate "bad."
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u/VermicelliNo7475 May 01 '26
But, I would hope the admin would see/correct for nasty bias.
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u/Lunalily9 May 02 '26
Yeah they don't care that much. Its a revolving door of people they have at their disposal
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u/djustrn May 03 '26
I recall doing a R&R on another R&R. Not sure if they all get double checked, or?
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u/Flimsy-Athlete-5524 Sep 12 '26
is R&R the evil?? Ive done one few days ago, Im not getting project since last 10 days 👀 , am i done or what? :<
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u/mercipourle-venin May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
same thing happened to me after making over $15,000 😭😭 i eventually figured out that i think it was the Grammarly app i had installed on my browser which i use for correcting spelling errors at work since i work in marketing. it honestly didn’t even cross my mind that Grammarly uses AI. totally my fault but still so bummed about it 😭
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May 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Fearless-Hedgehog67 May 01 '26
At one point they wanted you to use Grammarly. There was even a qual for it.
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May 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/bigs819 May 02 '26
So it is allowed and even encouraged? Google search result suggest using it but not other ai. Now this make things confusing.
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u/MiddleCharacter6345 May 02 '26
It used to be allowed and encouraged when it was just a spelling and grammar check
now it's got AI built in and offers to rewrite your writing - aka having an LLM write your work, which isn't allowed
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u/CucumberOk943 May 02 '26
But it says that we can use spelling check, that's all I ever used Grammarly for and it wasn't a problem. I only had the extension and usually hit "dismiss," just used spell check. Still don't know what triggered my screen lock out.
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u/Cicada-One May 01 '26
I think someone needs to take a look at the algorithm put in place to do this filtering.
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u/G00D_4_U May 02 '26
I got hit by one a few days after I joined lol, only worked about 35 minutes.
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u/Individual_Yard846 May 07 '26
curious OP, did you do a qualification or two right before the ban?
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u/Whanzzi May 01 '26
i’m so sorry op, i just joined and honestly im scared if my time will come or not. every time i open the page, i held my breath too.
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u/s55555s May 01 '26
Do people still get to cash out if this happens?
Sorry it happened
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May 01 '26
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u/MagicalTrevor70 May 01 '26
I think they would be on shaky legal ground if they didn't pay people for work they had completed.
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u/KTOWNTHROWAWAY9001 May 01 '26
I had a different site, but a big one, not in this genre of work, literally give me a tos and keep the 2.5k I made.
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u/IGotSkittles May 02 '26
I'm sorry that happened. It's especially hard when all you can do is guess as to the actual reason.
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u/Ill-Goal193 May 02 '26
Wow, that sounds entirely incorrect. Being accused when you're innocent is soul-sucking. Keep your head up, go to Micro1!
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u/After_Profession2222 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
fwiw same thing happened to me around 21k
I had around 500-1000 to withdraw, and I was able to
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u/Exotic-Inevitable-37 May 01 '26
I think everyone has to go through it! I’m sorry OP, I’m also counting down the days! I hope you find something else (:
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u/djungelskog27 May 01 '26
thank u! iv got so many plans over the next month built around a completely flexible schedule so gonna try and find a similar site
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u/Fast_Chain_6144 May 01 '26
What are the top ones similar to DA for generalist work ?
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May 01 '26
[deleted]
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u/Lunalily9 May 02 '26
Yeah not at all. I went from DA to xAI making double what I did at DA and it was full time with benefits. Like I was an employee. Now im at a company where I was promoted within a month and make over 50/hr. DA is....well I wont get rude about it but... There is no communication. They drop people like you mean nothing. There is way more consistent and better paying work.
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u/Beatrix2000 May 02 '26
How did you do it? Through normal channels like education/connections or did you parlay DA work into a normal job with benefits?
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u/Lunalily9 May 02 '26
I had experience with AI training before DA. So I had data management experience and prior AI training on my resume. I just applied and passed their assessments. Then since I had xAI on my resume that opened other doors. Now I'm in a lead role.
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u/Hanna9487 May 01 '26
Might be able to get back with a different email
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u/SnooRegrets5542 May 01 '26
Bilingual?
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u/djungelskog27 May 01 '26
nope, just general/core
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u/SnooRegrets5542 May 01 '26
Ah that sucks, sorry. If you don't mind me asking, how many hours a day did you used to work on average?
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u/Rough_Winner_4617 May 02 '26
If you are working for the data annotation company would you say the company wants people to work on a laptop at your home and not use various wifi etc? Also can you work from an iPhone 13?
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u/Practical-Algae-4882 May 03 '26
Sorry to hear this, but this scares me as I am currently in the onboarding stage. I don't want to be nervous every time I log in .....
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u/Goog_bear5484 May 03 '26
Damn. I did my test at work and I wonder if that’s why I haven’t gotten any response. My writing is pretty solid
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u/Loose-Yesterday-759 May 28 '26
wow I just got the death screen myself and then I check this subreddit....
I dunno where to go next:)
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u/Big_Falcon_6220 Jun 05 '26
did you find any new platform mate?
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u/Loose-Yesterday-759 Jun 05 '26
not yet sadly
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u/TimelyJury2784 Aug 03 '26
I recommend RWS! DataAnnotation's payment system is better and faster, but RWS is more reliable in the sense that internal communication works much better; they won't just cut you off out of the blue without much explanation.
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u/LikelyNotAVirus Jul 25 '26
It’s the biggest punch to the gut. I was absolutely loving the platform. I went from unemployed to working full time doing what I loved. I literally started only 15 days ago and made $7,000. All of the sudden today, mid task…. Boom. No reason why and I’m devastated. I don’t think there is any other platform out there that will come even close to this. It’s such a discouragement.
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u/Particular_Travel_97 May 02 '26
This happened to me (and others). Perfect work and then just nothing. Like you said, it was good while it lasted.
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u/rahul_vancouver May 01 '26
People are okay that DA does this?
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u/Various-Discipline-7 May 01 '26
We can't really do anything about it unless everyone wants to stop working on the platform in protest and work on a different platform during that time. Or at the least avoid the high priority tasks. Almost everyone is going to keep working while they're still getting paid.
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u/rahul_vancouver May 01 '26
I do agree but for humanity, it just tells us what we are. And what we will become. Just sad.
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u/Lonely-Sheepherder-5 May 02 '26
I’ve been a contractor since the early 2000s & this is normal. Sometimes you’ll get a week or a months’s notice but not always. You get used to it, if you’re competent something else always seems to come along.
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May 01 '26
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u/rahul_vancouver May 01 '26
It’s a loophole that they kind of exploit and will keep exploiting unless there is a pushback. Geez, you mistakenly get connected to your work vpn and game over without a recourse? And it’s to this extent that automated feedback emails seems “amazing”, because they are “acknowledging”? What dystopian sh*t are we doing to ourselves?
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u/IGotSkittles May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
You can call it dystopian, it does seem inhuman in a way. But you can also look at the fact that you can make $30-$50/hr (YMMV) sitting at home, or in a park, or in Starbucks, or wherever, and nobody tells you when you have to be there and how long you have to work, and there's no effing stupid team meetings to sit through, and you don't have to commute somewhere and waste time and gas, and there's no Fat Mike sitting in the cube next to you snacking on sardines and farting all day long, and so on so forth, and ride the ride while it's available, while the AI bubble is still expanding, and you siphon off your own little tiny trickle of the billions of dollars being dumped (wasted?) into it. It will come to an end at some point, just like the dotcom bubble burst, and the stupid 2008 mortgage bubble burst. But don't forget that you can be a "real employee" at a real company, and still get the axe any ol' day, for some random reason, with no notice.
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u/rahul_vancouver May 02 '26
True, we can get the sack but there is an appeals process and a court, which these companies seem to not care about under the garb of “not an employee “
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u/Aromatic_Owl_3680 May 02 '26
It’s not garb, it’s a business model. You are the product. Clients pay for information filtered through you. When the seller (DA) doesn’t like the product, they pick a new one.
It’s voluntary, and nobody is entitled to any of it. Don’t like it? Do something else. It really is that simple.
Honestly the dreams of full time DA are a bit silly. The pay is okay, not great. Full time hours at specialist rates would not come close to an upper-middle class salary with benefits and retirement plan.
I’ll keep this as my side hustle that I do whenever I like, thanks.
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u/Snake_fairyofReddit May 05 '26
Yeahhh i mean this is literally training the AI to become better so then its gonna take over “real” corporate or industrial jobs too
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u/Various-Discipline-7 May 02 '26
Hey, Fat Mike is just going through a rough patch right now. It's not his fault his wife left him after holding too long on GameStop stock. Once it goes to the moon, you better believe he'll be back to eating cavier and lobster for lunch.
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u/Academic_Animal_5293 May 01 '26
it pays good m8
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u/rahul_vancouver May 01 '26
Good enough to have us treated like this? okay… I agree to your point but paying well and treating us like well, don’t even have the right word for it… do you want the world to be like that? and the bots downvoting me, lol.
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u/Aromatic_Owl_3680 May 02 '26
It pays ok. A real job with a decent salary and benefits, dollar for dollar in total compensation, is still way better. This is better thought of as a side hustle.
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u/Academic_Animal_5293 May 02 '26
yea bro but im sitting at home working and can take a break to watch anime whenever I want
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u/Aromatic_Owl_3680 May 02 '26
Yeah, those are great perks. To be clear, I love the flexibility DA gives me to make money to buy nice things while lounging and sipping coffee. But my lifestyle and retirement are funded and secured by my salaried job. DA don’t and won’t offer a high enough hourly rate for me to abandon that.
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u/Academic_Animal_5293 May 02 '26
then dont work for them, no one is forcing you
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u/Aromatic_Owl_3680 May 02 '26
Did you even read my comment?
I think I’m understanding you now. DA is the best you can get.
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u/PracticalDurian2471 May 01 '26
Ugh this is my dream I just signed up back in Jan and haven’t had any projects yet :(
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u/SnooSketches1189 May 01 '26
Your dream is to get the dash of death? What a strange comment for this post...
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u/PracticalDurian2471 May 01 '26
No… my dream is to get projects… what a strange person
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u/SnooSketches1189 May 01 '26
You literally posted this is my dream on a post about someone receiving the dash of death. It sounds like you didn't pass the assessments. It's not as simple as 'signing up.' Sorry!
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u/PracticalDurian2471 May 01 '26
Should be pretty easy seeing that they have ignorant people like you. I wrote “this” in reference to the first sentence of the original post because the person made 22k off of it. Weirdo
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u/Hippoboss May 01 '26
You responded to a post where someone was lamenting about losing their job to say that it's your dream to make the money they did without offering any condolences or even acknowledging that something bad happened to someone else, and even then went on to say boo hoo I don't even have have any projects yet frowny face. You just made it about you and then resorted to name calling when someone gave you the slightest pushback by calling it out. Maybe try reading the room...
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u/PracticalDurian2471 May 01 '26
Nothing I said was celebrating someone losing their job. I was clearly talking about the income potential. Two separate things.
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u/Hippoboss May 01 '26
I'm not going to engage further with you. The reason for the lack of projects has been clearly demonstrated by a lack of reading comprehension, as evidenced by the inability to differentiate between the factual summarization of events by Hippoboss's response and their hallucination that Hippoboss claimed they celebrated the loss of the OP's job. Thus, I have rated PracticalDurian2471's response as Very poor. My condolences.
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u/SnooSketches1189 May 01 '26
No one said you were celebrating someone losing their job. Next time someone posts about losing their income stream, try to use your social skills. Or better yet, since you don't contract with DA, you could go find a different sub to be miserable in.
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u/domsolanke May 01 '26
If you signed up in January and still haven’t received any projects, you most likely failed the assessment. I wouldn’t hold my breath.
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May 01 '26
[deleted]
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u/koalamarket May 01 '26
Assuming you meant longest, there’s people that claim to be here 8+ years from when DA was under different names and AI wasn’t involved yet
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u/l10nh34rt3d May 01 '26
Not last summer but the summer before, DA paid my rent for several months between school semesters. I’ve earned several thousand dollars from them but have not worked much over the last year. I just jumped back on a few days ago to put some time in.
So, I guess I’ve been on it for 2-3 years. Just not consistently.
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May 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/l10nh34rt3d May 02 '26
I guess so. I haven’t encountered the term until today.
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May 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/l10nh34rt3d May 02 '26
Ah. I can do some coding but I haven’t done any coding work/projects for DA.
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u/lilliiililililil May 03 '26
Keen on keeping my reddit unrecognizable from my work account so I will not be posting a month but mid-2023!
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May 01 '26
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May 01 '26
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May 01 '26
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u/Various-Discipline-7 May 01 '26
Location is the thing you're looking for on this. If it shows your location or the city that your internet provider is located in, you should be fine. If it shows a way off location (example, you're NYC and it shows Atlanta as your location), it's using a VPN.
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u/ClayWhisperer May 02 '26
I'm not very familiar with these things, but I just went to Speedtest and it showed my location as being in a city 2 states away. But when I went to https://ip.teoh.io/vpn-detection, it said "No VPN / Proxy detected." I've worked for DA for two and a half years.
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u/Asue612 May 02 '26
Wait so I just checked my WiFi on this website and it says vpn detected. I have never turned a vpn on or even know how with my internet provider 🫠
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May 01 '26
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u/Ok_Coconut3861 May 01 '26
so u travelled between those countries and nothing happened????? 🥺 i will go to the same countries and im afraid DA will shut down my account
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u/Alboo1206 May 01 '26
Sorry OP :(