Website blocked me when vpn was on.
Detailed description:
Product & version number:
OS details:
What is the error message you are seeing?
If you have any supporting screenshots, please add them:
1 Like
Hello @Nicholas_Phillips
What website?
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Wesites may need to know your true location to verify your identity &or to provide localized content.
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Websites block VPN users primarily to manage legal obligations, prevent security threats, and protect their business models. While VPNs are legitimate tools for privacy, they are frequently used to bypass restrictions, leading sites to treat them as suspicious by default.
The most common reasons for blocking VPNs include:
Compliance and Licensing (Geo-blocking)
Streaming platforms (like Netflix and Hulu) and media sites block VPNs to enforce geographic licensing agreements. These companies often only have the rights to show content in specific countries; if they cannot verify your actual location, they may block access to avoid legal action from copyright holders.
Fraud and Security Prevention
Financial institutions, such as Chase or PayPal, often restrict VPNs to prevent account takeovers (ATO) and fraudulent transactions. Because VPNs mask a user’s true IP and location, they can be used by hackers to access banking accounts from overseas without triggering standard location-based security alerts.
Preventing Bot Activity and Attacks
Websites use VPN blocks as a defense against:
- DDoS Attacks: Preventing massive influxes of traffic meant to crash a site.
- Data Scraping: Stopping bots from automatically harvesting site content.
- Spam: Blocking “datacenter” IP ranges that are commonly used to create fake accounts or post bulk spam.
Enforcement of Terms and Fairness
- E-commerce: Retailers and ticket platforms (like Ticketmaster) block VPNs to prevent scalpers from using bots to buy up limited stock or ticket s for resale.
- Online Gaming: To maintain fair play, some games block VPNs so players cannot manipulate matchmaking or access servers outside their region for an unfair latency advantage.
Institutional or Government Rules
- Work/School: Administrators block VPNs on their networks to ensure students or employees follow acceptable use policies and stay focused on tasks.
- Censorship: In some countries, governments block VPNs to prevent citizens from bypassing state-mandated internet filters or accessing restricted news and social media.
Ad Revenue and Tracking
Advertising is most profitable when it is accurately targeted to a user’s real location and behavior. Since VPNs mask this data, some ad-heavy sites block them to ensure their data collection remains accurate and their advertising remains valuable.
Note: AI sourced content may make mistakes
Note: ticket s is not allowed
Hello @Nicholas_Phillips
What website?
I noticed that the website blocks access whenever my VPN is turned on. When I try to open the page while connected to a VPN, it either refuses to load properly or shows a security/block message. However, when I disable the VPN, the website loads normally without any issues.
I was trying to access a page related to the NYT Letter Boxed puzzle, where I usually check strategies and discussions about solving the daily puzzle. Since I sometimes use a VPN for privacy while browsing puzzle guides or game discussions, the block makes it difficult to access the content.
It seems like the site might be detecting the VPN IP and automatically restricting it. I understand that some websites do this to prevent abuse, but in this case I’m just a normal user trying to read content related to the Letter Boxed word puzzle.
Product & version number:
Google Chrome (latest version)
OS details:
Windows 10 (64-bit)
What is the error message you are seeing?
The page shows a message indicating that access is blocked or restricted when a VPN connection is detected.
Supporting screenshots:
I don’t currently have a screenshot, but I can provide one if needed.
The New York Times (NYT) often blocks VPN connections to its games, including
Letter Boxed to prevent paywall bypassing and to comply with regional licensing. As of late 2025, Letter Boxed is officially behind a subscription paywall, and the site uses security services like Cloudflare that may flag VPN IP addresses as suspicious.
Why Do Some Websites Block VPNs? [here]
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New York Times Games is a subscription service of The New York Times.
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https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/letter-boxed
If a website is blocking known VPN IP addresses, there is nothing that a VPN provider can or should do to bypass that site’s security settings.