My AWS Account Got Suspended – Here's What Happened and How to Avoid It

A while ago, my AWS account got suspended because I had a lot of unpaid bills. I didn’t realize how quickly the costs were adding up, and before I knew it, my account was locked. If this has happened to you or you're worried it might, here's what I learned and how you can avoid this problem.

What Caused My Suspension?

In my case, I had several servers running that I wasn’t even using. They kept running in the background, racking up charges, and I wasn’t keeping track. I also had some services I had forgotten about, like storage, databases, and backups. Since AWS charges based on usage, these unused services were quietly adding to my bill every month.

How to Avoid Suspension

To avoid what happened to me, here are a few things you can do:

1. Turn Off Unused Servers: If you’re not using a server, stop it or terminate it. You can do this by going to the AWS Management Console and checking all your running instances. Make sure to stop or shut down any that aren't being used.

2. Review Your Billing Regularly: AWS offers a "Billing and Cost Management Dashboard." Check this regularly to see where your money is going. If something looks off, dig deeper to find out why.

3. Set Up Billing Alerts: AWS allows you to set up billing alarms to notify you when your charges exceed a certain amount. This way, you’ll know immediately if something is costing you more than expected.

4. Tag and Organize Your Resources: Tagging resources makes it easier to track what's being used and what isn't. It’s also useful when reviewing costs because you can see what each resource is for and whether it's worth keeping.

5. Use the Free Tier Wisely: AWS offers a free tier for many services, but be sure to check when the free tier ends or if you’ve gone over its limits. Once you're out of the free tier, charges will apply.

What to Do if Your Account Gets Suspended

If your account does get suspended, don’t panic. You can fix it by paying your outstanding bills. Once you've cleared the payments, AWS will restore access to your account. It’s also a good idea to contact AWS support to ensure everything is sorted out and to ask for guidance on managing your usage better.

My Personal Takeaway

This experience taught me a lot about managing cloud resources. I used to think that once something was set up, I didn’t have to worry about it. But now, I regularly check my AWS usage, turn off what I’m not using, and make sure I know where every dollar is going. It’s been a good lesson in keeping my costs under control and staying on top of things.