Earlier today I opened the game and I was shocked to read “Account Suspension Notice” for 30 days. The e-mail that I received following that notice explained that it’s because of a “Malicious image submission” on a Wayfarer submission.
Why This Happened
I am a Community Ambassador, the only one in my country, and a member of my community asked to me to nominate a pokéstop for them, because they are not sure how to do it themselves. I agreed to help, as a Community Ambassador I’m helping my community on daily basis. The Wayfarer Submission was for a very popular burger place in the city that everyone knows about. But, it’s that image that I was sent to submit that was a “Malicious image”. The picture had the burger place logo photographed in real life and the picture really didn’t break any rules, other than being a “wrong format”, potentially downloaded from the internet. I have created over 300 Wayspots in my community and this is the first time I get in trouble for trying to help a member of my community.
I really care about this game and I really care about creating a community, that’s why I became a Community Ambassador, because no one else did. I was the first person to stand up, act, and gather people. And make a better map for the whole community with hundreds of pokestops added. The one time I use a wrong format of a picture - I get in big trouble.
I already sent an appeal where the e-mail led me, but all I got as a response was an e-mail that felt like an automated response and not a human writing. There was no further information in that e-mail, it just provided information that the first e-mail already did.
The team on the Community Ambassador Discord say they have no power to act as this is a Wafarer issue and this is my first time on these forums. So if there’s anyone that can guide me to the right place and how can I not wait 30 days - please help. I have events to host, a big community to guide, and I really love this game.
Welcome to the forum. I am sorry that it is under these circumstances. You are in the right place.
Your appeal via email would have been reviewed by humans, as staff have stated before. They will typically also open a DM with someone who posts here on the forum to have a private discussion. I am not sure what hours of the day they handle these requests, so the staff response may not be today.
You can avoid any issues with “Malicious images” in the future if you only use photos you take yourself and do not upload anywhere like reddit or Google Maps.
Thank you. The response I got via e-mail was three hours ago, but that really felt like a copy-paste from what I already got right after the suspension. If there’s a chance that even after that a member from the staff can see this and message me - I’d greatly appreciate it.
I want to ask if out of those 300 wayspots, how many similar instances may have been incorrectly approved as third-party photos are outright listed as ineligible?
Does “outright listed as ineligible” exist anymore? Because I’ve reported a high school gym for removal three times and… not only were all three rejected but a thread here isn’t getting traction either.
Without seeing the contents of your report, it is hard to conclude why those have been rejected. I suggest showing the ticket and proof given in the corresponding thread to proceed with your request.
I haven’t used other third-party photos. All Wayspots that I’m nominating are pictures taken from my phone respecting all the criteria. This is a one-time situation in which I was trying to help a member of my community that sent me a picture to nominate because they didn’t know how. The picture looked normal as if it was taken by them too.
Can you share the suspension email, original foto submitted , screenshot of submission email?
It will help confirm what is happening here below is my example. You can see which nomination trigger the suspension.
Have you ever receive warning before? Normally you have 1 day warning before 30days suspension but it may not be so obvious that people often overlook it (i personally experience this)
