LinkedIn account restricted - help needed

My client has received this notification from LinkedIn, the second one is 3 months (basically since I started working with him).

I do have his login details which I use on occasions but the only automation tool we regularly use is Buffer and neither of us are doing any kind of outreach. However, the plan was for me to start doing some outreach on his behalf over the coming months.

The only thing I can think of is that the algorithm is picking up my IP address (200 miles away from his) and thinks I am a robot but surely lots of people VA’s etc work a client’s account on their behalf??

How does everyone else get around this, especially if they are doing outreach - is there any software that will mask my IP address etc OR do you think it’s something else and not my IP address? Rx

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Any thoughts @LinkedIn_Experts ? I’m not sure to be honest.

Could you unpack this a little bit more to get specific help or ideas? What’s being restricted? What messages from LinkedIn have you received? Anything specific you care to share regarding activity on LinkedIn prior to the restrictions?

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Hello Rachel,

Yes, LinkedIn has seen that you login as your client and is restricting him…they could end up restricting your LI profile, too. LI started enforcing this nearly 2 years ago and they are ruthless about it. There is nothing to do except wait and see. If your client can share that they had given access to you and won’t do it going forward, they may release the restriction. There’s no way to tell.

As far as workarounds, there aren’t any. I don’t recommend using a VPN because LI has seen it’s way through that. With each of my LI clients, I have them do their own logging in with my guidance via a Zoom call where we share screen. I know this isn’t ideal but it is the way LI wants people to monitor and edit their own profile.

Using a tool like Buffer, Agorapulse (my fave!), Hootsuite, etc. helps you to be able to do posts for your client and schedule content…but any editing or formatting of their actual profile should be done by the owner. I’ve been through this with many many clients.

Hope this helps!

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Wow that’s really insightful Kate! Like peering into the inner workings of LI. I had no clue. Thanks for sharing!

I’ll definitely be using that nugget of info in the future.

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To add on to what Kate said…the first time the account is restricted, you can get it unrestricted, once that happen, first thing I would recommend is to download all the connections from LinkedIn. In case it get restricted again, from my experience, the 2nd time it get restricted they normally shut it down permanently. So be very careful and always back up your data.

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@FindTroy the clients account was restricted for just 2 days. The message received as per screenshot on original post. Only activity was posting to page and profile via Buffer. Some liking and commenting via personal hence the login via me and months ago a profile update.

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Yikes, what a nightmare. So how do people do outreach on behalf of clients @kate2?? Rx

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@jabraham his account was restricted for just 2 days fortunately and I will not be logging in again that’s for sure but as I mentioned in an earlier post I’ve no idea how to do his outreach for him now and he doesn’t have time and isn’t capable of doing it to be honest :sleepy: Not sure where to go from here. Rx

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Glad that was helpful, Kaz. :slight_smile:

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They do their outreach - to me, their content - via the use of scheduling tools. (And, BTW, LI now has a scheduling feature from within their app…brand new.) This is where a social media manager or V.A. could “do” the outreach/content for their client. You’d use Buffer, Agorapulse, or similar to schedule posts, etc. That way you have access to your client’s scheduling tool and can post on their behalf from within that vs. doing it directly from within their LI account.

Does that help?

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The only way to do this for him is for him to sign up/subscribe to Buffer or similar. Then connect his account…he’d have to do the initial set up. Then the client could give you access to his Buffer and you could schedule posts/content from there.

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Looks like you have some great advice here. The tip that I give my clients who have either a virtual assistant or admin signing into their account… and it has worked for over 5 years with no issues and no restrictions.

We create blocks of time on the calendar to ensure ONE person is logged into the account at a time.

i.e. the admin / VA has a dedicated time where they are the only one logged into the LinkedIn Account and then they log out.

But as other people mentioned, once an account has experienced restrictions it’s possible that some options might not be available anymore or worth taking the risk. In my experience, once an account is restricted the first time… the risk level is much higher of being flagged again with an even harsher result i.e. frozen or banned account.

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Have you tried using a VPN when you log in? VPN is very common and adds a layer of security.

Short of that , if you use Chrome, you can set up separate profile for each client. If you log in and log out using just chrome browser it will trigger a red flag. Here’s how to create multiple profiles: Use Chrome with multiple profiles - Computer - Google Chrome Help

I would also look at what plugins you have installed on your browser and what the client has on their browser and remove any unnecessary ones.

For profile views, do NOT use the LinkedIn search bar. Instead, a workaround is to use Google search: [name of person linkedin.com] 9 out of 10 times this will bring up their profile unless they have a very common name. If that’s the case add their company to your search in Google [name of person company linkedin.com]

And finally, open a support ticket from his account and ask LinkedIn why you are receiving this warning. Ask them what is triggering it.

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Yes! Thank you for adding that in, Julbert. You’re correct. They usually (but not always) will give you one restriction but if they find any further activity they can shut down the profile holder AND the person logging in as the account holder. There’s no way to turn that around…it is permanent.

Great tip to go into Privacy & Settings to download all connections. Once in Settings, select Data Privacy and then select “Get a copy of your data.” Hope that helps!

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Thanks everyone for such a great community response!!

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Once you or your client download their data - here are a bunch of things you can do with it: Be the Master of Your LinkedIn Data in 5 Easy Steps

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Thank you, this is so helpful @judiwfox @kate2 however, any suggestions how I can now create his articles and newsletter without logging in to his account? Rx

By outreach I was meaning lead generation, ie connecting etc, not content outreach.
Are you suggesting that using my Buffer account will also flag up as an issue? Rx

Hi @judihays, thank you for this. Kate suggested VPN wasn’t an option??