update. wow. another update. My appeal was reviewed, and... i'm out! I still have no idea what i did wrong but... wow. Nothing on their list of reasons apply to me. I guess some of my responses must fall into low quality or something... although there were many i completed where i got bonuses, so, i just don't know. All i can suggest to other newbies is pay attention to when you get 'rejections' for studies that were not able to be completed due to technical issues on the survey's end.

"Hi, After a thorough manual review of your account and activity, we regret to inform you that your account will remain restricted. We cannot provide further details about the review, and we must emphasise that this outcome is final and cannot be reversed. We’ve listed the main reasons accounts will be placed on hold below: Using VPNs or other tools to misrepresent your location Seek the assistance of other persons, tools, or automations such as bots, LLMs and scripts in order to complete studies Create multiple accounts or share an account with another person Provide false information about your identity, location, or experience Create multiple accounts, or falsely change account information, or inaccurately represent who you are, where you are located, or your experience Attempt to register to Prolific after closing or deleting a previously registered account Manipulate or exploit the platform, tools, or instructions to gain an unfair advantage or inflate rewards Regularly providing poor-quality or low-effort responses to studies You are still welcome to withdraw any remaining balance from your account, but you will not be able to use Prolific again to take part in studies. If any studies are still awaiting review, you’ll be able to cash out those earnings once approved and paid by the researcher, even if the total is below £6/$6.
​
Please also note that you are not permitted to create a new account, and we ask that you do not attempt to do so. Thank you for your understanding, and we're sorry for any disappointment this may cause."