{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-09-30T07:28:49.289Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"travel","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":3,"coverage":{"cases":3,"countries":2,"languages":3,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":3,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-claude-account-suspended-after-automated-flag-on-travel-log-ins-user-with-depression-lost-support-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'my access locations naturally change all the time (shifting between the Netherlands, Singapore, and various transit countries)'; 'flagged these constant IP and location shifts as \"suspicious activity.\"'; 'my paid subscription was put on a permanent \"Hold\" status, and my account was suspended. No human warning. No manual review.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A few days before the post, the poster's paid Claude subscription was put on hold and the account suspended after what the poster describes as Anthropic's automated fraud system flagging their constant IP and location changes as suspicious activity, with no human warning or manual review.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account and reading of the flag; no suspension notice was published."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'They blacklisted my card, and their support is just ignoring my emails.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says Anthropic blacklisted their payment card and that support has not answered their emails.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the help-centre notice that response times are longer than normal is general context (c4)."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'When my depression made my brain foggy and heavy, I would talk to Claude. It helped me organize my chaotic thoughts, calmed my anxiety'; 'When I realized I was locked out, it triggered a massive panic attack and pushed me straight back into a severe depressive episode.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says that during their worst periods they talked to Claude, which helped organise their thoughts and calm their anxiety, and that realising they were locked out triggered a massive panic attack and pushed them back into a severe depressive episode.","causal_attribution":"Poster's own statement of the effect on their health; no clinical confirmation."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'we may ban an account for a variety of reasons'; 'Account creation from an unsupported location'; 'fill out the appeal form linked below. Our Safeguards team can further investigate why your account was disabled.'; 'an organization you belong to has been paused because of unusual activity'; 'Our response times are currently longer than normal due to our recent launch and an increase in email volume.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Anthropic's help centre says it may ban an account for reasons including repeated Usage Policy violations, account creation from an unsupported location and Terms of Service violations, that a user who feels wrongly suspended can log in and submit an appeal for the Safeguards team to investigate, that an organisation paused because of unusual activity can request a review, and that response times are longer than normal.","causal_attribution":"General help-centre text; it does not establish why this account was suspended or how the flag was made."}],"effects":[{"label":"paid Claude account put on hold and suspended after what the poster describes as an automated flag on changing log-in locations, with no human warning or review (poster's account)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"loss of a chatbot the poster relied on for emotional support, with a reported panic attack and a return to a severe depressive episode","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"payment card blacklisted and support emails unanswered (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/depression/comments/1wtl0pn/help_me_pls/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-30: full self-text retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID; the thread had no comments. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-claude-hold-poster"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8241253-safeguards-warnings-and-appeals","kind":"company_documentation","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Claude Help Center article 'Safeguards warnings and appeals', dated July 9, 2026 on the page, fetched directly on 2026-09-30 (200). Describes policy in general; it does not address this account.","independence_group":"anthropic-help-center"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether the suspension was triggered by location changes, as the poster believes, and whether the check involved AI or a human.","The day of the suspension (late September 2026, 'a few days' before the 29 September post), the poster's location at the time and their home country.","Whether the poster submitted the in-product appeal and whether the account or subscription was restored.","Which plan the poster was on and what the suspension notice said."],"geography":{"basis":"The poster says their log-in locations shift between the Netherlands, Singapore and transit countries and that the flag followed those shifts; the post does not say where they were when the account was suspended, and no home country is stated. Unknown after review.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter's public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of a person who relied on a chatbot for emotional support losing that access through an automated account suspension, with the reported health effects described with attribution and without corroboration. Anthropic's help-centre text is cited as documented context only. The poster's clinical history is summarised in their own general terms; no handle is recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster describes an extended period of talking to Claude, Anthropic's chatbot, for cognitive and emotional support, and the loss of that access when the account was suspended. The suspension is attributed by the poster to 'Anthropic's automated fraud system'; whether that system uses AI is not stated by the poster and is not established by Anthropic's help pages, which describe bans and organisation holds without describing the mechanism. The relation recorded is the conversation with Claude; the suspension decision is recorded as an automated provider action without asserting an AI component.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person forum account: a Claude subscriber with chronic depression who travels between countries on their therapists' advice says an automated fraud check flagged their changing log-in locations, put the paid account on hold and suspended it, cutting off a chatbot they relied on for emotional support and triggering a panic attack and a depressive episode","summary":"In a public post to r/depression on 29 September 2026, a Claude subscriber writes that they live with severe chronic depression and, on their therapists' advice, travel constantly, so their log-in locations shift between the Netherlands, Singapore and transit countries. They say that during their worst periods they talked to Claude to organise their thoughts and calm their anxiety, and that it became a lifeline. 'A few days ago', they write, Anthropic's automated fraud system flagged the location changes as suspicious activity; their paid subscription was put on a permanent hold and the account suspended with no human warning or manual review, their card was blacklisted, and support had not answered their emails. Realising they were locked out 'triggered a massive panic attack' and pushed them back into a severe depressive episode. Anthropic's help centre says it may ban accounts for reasons including account creation from an unsupported location and that an organisation paused for unusual activity can request a review; it does not describe the check the poster reports, and whether that check uses AI is not known. The account is uncorroborated.","incidentDate":"2026-09-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-09-29","aiSystem":"Claude (Anthropic's chatbot, used on a paid subscription) and Anthropic's account safeguards, which the poster calls an 'automated fraud system'; the mechanism of the flag is not described by the poster or by Anthropic's help pages","aiProduct":"Claude","aiCompany":"Anthropic","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A Claude subscriber with chronic depression reports that an automated fraud flag on their changing log-in locations put their paid account on hold and suspended it, cutting off a chatbot they relied on for emotional support; they say the lockout triggered a panic attack and a return to a severe depressive episode, and that their card was blacklisted and support emails went unanswered (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster, whose own account was suspended and who reports the health effects. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"assistant","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/depression/comments/1wtl0pn/help_me_pls/","primarySourceLabel":"r/depression, 29 September 2026: \"Help me pls\" (public first-person post about a Claude account suspension while travelling)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:56.702617+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:56.702617+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","claude","anthropic","account-suspension","automated-fraud-check","mental-health","emotional-reliance","travel","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2025-japan-miyajima-couple-reportedly-stuck-mount-misen-after-chatgpt-ropeway-closing-time","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The couple used ChatGPT to plan a romantic hike to the top of Mount Misen on the Japanese island of Itsukushima earlier this year.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"ChatGPT said the last ropeway down was at 17:30, but in reality, the ropeway had already closed. So, we were stuck at the mountain top.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Wie das Paar mit der Situation umging, geht aus dem Bericht nicht hervor.","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A travel blogger and her husband used ChatGPT to plan a hike up Mount Misen in Japan. ChatGPT said the last ropeway down was at 17:30. The ropeway had already closed when they were ready to descend and they were stuck at the summit.","causal_attribution":"The blogger attributes the stranding to ChatGPT's stated ropeway time. The BBC reports her account without independent verification of the chat or of the ropeway's actual hours."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"they set off at 15:00 to hike to the montain's summit in time for sunset, exactly as ChatGPT had instructed them.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The couple set off at 15:00 to reach the summit by sunset, as ChatGPT had instructed.","causal_attribution":"Account of the blogger as relayed by the BBC. The plan followed was ChatGPT's according to the account."}],"effects":[{"label":"Stranded at a mountain summit after the ropeway had closed despite a 17:30 last-descent time from ChatGPT","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250926-the-perils-of-letting-ai-plan-your-next-trip","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English original, no translation.","independence_group":"bbc-travel-ai-trip-planning-2025-09-29"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.watson.de/leben/urlaub-freizeit/518110279-japan-paar-plant-urlaub-mit-chatgpt-und-sitzt-auf-berggipfel-fest","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"de","translation_note":"German article that relays the BBC account and cites the BBC as its source. Read by an AI model without human translation review. Not independent of s1.","independence_group":"bbc-travel-ai-trip-planning-2025-09-29"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Month and day of the hike are not stated. 2025 rests on 'earlier this year' in the 29 September 2025 article.","How the couple got down, how long they were stranded and any cost or injury are not reported (watson.de says the report does not say).","The ChatGPT prompt and reply were not shown, and the ropeway's actual closing time on that day is not stated.","The BBC article is a trend feature. Only the blogger's account of this event is given, from a single witness."],"geography":{"basis":"BBC places the hike on Mount Misen on the Japanese island of Itsukushima. The couple's home country is not stated.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["JP"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"A first-person account by the affected traveller to the BBC, relayed by a German outlet that cites the BBC. One source chain. Unverified and the outcome after the stranding is unknown.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The blogger's first-person account to the BBC names ChatGPT as the source of the itinerary and the 17:30 last-descent time. The chat was not seen.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Couple reportedly stranded on Mount Misen after the ropeway had closed despite a 17:30 last-descent time given by ChatGPT","summary":"BBC Travel reported on 29 September 2025 that a travel blogger and her husband used ChatGPT to plan a sunset hike up Mount Misen on Itsukushima (Miyajima) in Japan earlier that year. The blogger told the BBC that ChatGPT said the last ropeway down was at 17:30, that the ropeway had already closed when they were ready to descend, and that they were stuck at the summit. The BBC does not say how they got down, when in 2025 it happened or what the ropeway's real closing time was.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-09-29","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the blogger quoted by the BBC, the couple were stuck at the mountain summit after the ropeway they planned to descend by had closed. No injury is reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":2,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The BBC says the couple used ChatGPT and the blogger says \"we were stuck at the mountain top\", so both people are counted once.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"chatbot","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250926-the-perils-of-letting-ai-plan-your-next-trip","primarySourceLabel":"BBC Travel, \"The perils of letting AI plan your next trip\", 29 Sep 2025","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T13:29:27.61572+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:07.254939+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2025"]},{"id":"2025-peru-mollepata-tourist-reportedly-paid-160-dollars-sacred-canyon-of-humantay-operator-says-nonexistent","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"tourists were chatting amicably about their plans to hike alone in the mountains to the \"Sacred Canyon of Humantay\".","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"They [showed] me the screenshot, confidently written and full of vivid adjectives","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"it was not true. There is no Sacred Canyon of Humantay!","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"O Cânion Sagrado de Humantay não existe!","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A trek operator says two tourists showed the operator a screenshot describing a 'Sacred Canyon of Humantay' and that no such place exists.","causal_attribution":"The operator's statement. The BBC does not verify the screenshot or name the AI tool. An academic quoted by the BBC believes the program 'likely just put together a few words that seemed approriate to the region'."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The tourist paid nearly $160 (£118) in order to get to a rural road in the environs of Mollepata without a guide or [a destination].","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Os turistas pagaram cerca de US$ 160","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"According to the operator, one tourist paid nearly $160 to reach a rural road near Mollepata without a guide or a destination.","causal_attribution":"The operator's statement. The BBC's account of the sequence (payment before or after the operator met the tourists) is ambiguous."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"the AI program likely just put together a few words that seemed approriate to the region.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The BBC attributes the invented canyon to an AI program, quoting an academic's belief that the program likely combined words that seemed appropriate to the region.","causal_attribution":"The academic's belief as quoted by the BBC. No tool or chat was seen."}],"effects":[{"label":"Reported wasted fare and a trip to a rural road with no guide and no real destination","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250926-the-perils-of-letting-ai-plan-your-next-trip","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English original, no translation.","independence_group":"bbc-travel-ai-trip-planning-2025-09-29"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/tec/2025/10/os-perigos-de-deixar-que-a-ia-organize-sua-proxima-viagem.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"pt","translation_note":"Portuguese translation of the BBC article published in Folha. Read by an AI model without human translation review. Not independent of s1.","independence_group":"bbc-travel-ai-trip-planning-2025-09-29"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Date of the event is not stated in any inspected source.","The AI tool the tourists used is not named for this event, and the screenshot is not shown.","The tourists' identities, nationalities and what happened after the operator's intervention are not reported.","The BBC text refers to 'the tourist' paying although it introduces two tourists. Whether both paid is unknown.","The BBC does not say to whom the fare was paid, whether it was paid before or after the operator spoke to the tourists, or whether it was lost.","The operator's own company page tells a differing story of a German couple who were re-planned onto a real route. That page names no payment and says the couple 'still hiked'. It is not established whether that is the same event.","The BBC article is a trend feature. Only the operator's account is given, from a single witness."],"geography":{"basis":"BBC places the operator in a rural Peruvian town and the road near Mollepata. The tourists' nationality is not stated in the BBC article.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["PE"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"A named local trek operator's account to the BBC, relayed in translation by Folha. One source chain. Unverified, undated and the AI tool is not identified, so the event date is not established and the case is published undated.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The operator says the tourists showed the operator a screenshot describing the canyon. The BBC ties the invention to AI chatbots and quotes an expert on the likely origin, but does not state which tool the tourists used or show the screenshot.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Tourist reportedly paid nearly $160 to reach a rural road near Mollepata for a 'Sacred Canyon of Humantay' that a trek operator says does not exist","summary":"BBC Travel reported on 29 September 2025 that a trek operator in a rural Peruvian town overheard two unaccompanied tourists planning to hike alone to the 'Sacred Canyon of Humantay'. The operator says the tourists showed the operator a screenshot of a confident, adjectival description, that no such canyon exists, and that one tourist paid nearly $160 to reach a rural road near Mollepata without a guide or a destination. The article implies an AI chatbot as the source of the description but does not name the tool used by these tourists, and gives no date.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-09-29","aiSystem":"Unidentified AI chatbot","aiProduct":"Unidentified chatbot","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the trek operator quoted by the BBC, one tourist paid nearly $160 to travel to a rural road with no guide and no real destination. The operator says the plan could have exposed them to high-altitude risk. No injury is reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"The BBC reports that 'the tourist' paid the fare and ended on a rural road. A second tourist is mentioned as part of the pair but no loss is reported for that person.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"chatbot","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250926-the-perils-of-letting-ai-plan-your-next-trip","primarySourceLabel":"BBC Travel, \"The perils of letting AI plan your next trip\", 29 Sep 2025","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T13:29:24.386049+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:13.239892+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":[]}]}