A Used PC or CPU Can Carry Its Last Owner’s Game Ban

Yes: a used PC, and by one buyer’s account a single used CPU, can arrive carrying a game ban that its previous owner earned. Two of four anti-cheat makers say in their own support pages that they ban hardware, not only accounts: Riot, which runs Vanguard, will re-check a hardware ban on request, and Activision says its Call of Duty hardware bans “are not eligible for appeal”.

What each anti-cheat maker says

Anti-cheat	What its own pages say about hardware	Appeal route
Riot Vanguard (Riot’s games)	Bans “the physical components of that computer”, whatever account logs in	Player support ticket asking for re-evaluation; “never guaranteed”
Ricochet (Call of Duty)	“Hardware bans apply to the device and not the account”	None. “Hardware bans are not eligible for appeal”
Easy Anti-Cheat (many publishers)	Collects “hardware identifiers to prevent ban evasion”; the publisher decides the ban	The game’s support first, then the easy.ac appeal form
BattlEye (many publishers)	Collects hardware identifiers “(e.g. serial numbers)”	Its contact form, under “Ban appeals”

All read on 9 October 2026. Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye say they collect hardware identifiers but do not say, on the pages we read, whether a ban stays with the hardware when it changes hands. Tom’s Hardware reported that both enforce bans across their games; neither maker’s pages say so.

How a part ends up banned

Riot’s support article is direct: when a computer has a hardware ID ban, “we’ve banned the physical components of that computer rather than just banning an account”. The ban is aimed at the device, “regardless of the account being used”. Riot hands them out for cheating with third-party tools, threats, and extreme repeated abuse.

Of the four makers’ pages we read, Activision’s policy is the one that addresses buyers. It tells players to “exercise caution when purchasing, borrowing, or using secondhand, shared, or publicly accessible devices”, because hardware bans “may remain in effect on devices previously used when policy violations occurred”.

Neither company names the component that carries the identifier. Easy Anti-Cheat’s own FAQ notes that on newer PCs the TPM, the security chip Windows 11 needs, “is usually a part of the CPU itself” — the AMD fTPM or Intel PTT setting in firmware. That would fit a ban following a processor, but no maker says the TPM is what it records.

The case that started this, and Riot’s answer

A Valorant player in Germany posted on Reddit that a used Ryzen 7 5800X3D (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab), bought on 21 September, got them kicked from the game, and that Riot support said the chip had been banned on 12 August after a previous owner cheated. PCWorld, XDA Developers and Tom’s Hardware reported it between 2 and 3 October. The buyer also said the rest of their PC was added to the denylist.

Phillip Koskinas, Riot’s head of anti-cheat, replied on X that this was “pretty unlikely”: Riot’s hardware bans “only last 4 months maximum, they’re game-specific”, support tells you the time remaining, and Riot does not add “everything else” when it matches one component. Riot’s own support article gives no duration for a hardware ban, and its scope reads wider than one game: it says the banned person should not use “any account on a Riot platform or game”. We have asked nothing of Riot ourselves; both statements are quoted as published.

If you already have the part

Do not test it with a second account on Riot’s games. Riot says that logging in to a hardware-banned computer with another account gets that account restricted on the device and “banned for a set period”, because the system assumes it is evading the ban. Its advice: if you suspect a computer has a hardware ban, “it’s best not to try to log in with any account”.

Read the error. Riot’s VAN 152 code means the device has a hardware ID ban; reinstalling Vanguard or the game will not clear it.

Then use the route for that system:

1. Riot: submit a player support request asking for a re-evaluation, one ticket per affected account. Riot says lifting is “possible (but never guaranteed)”. Its page is written for the banned player and does not mention second-hand hardware, so say plainly that the part is newly bought.
2. Call of Duty: Activision says hardware bans vary in length and the hardware “may be cleared for online gameplay” at any time, but cannot be appealed. To check a device’s status, log in with an account in good standing on any crossplay Call of Duty title; a banned device shows a notice.
3. Easy Anti-Cheat games: contact the game’s support first, then use the easy.ac appeal form with the ban’s reference ID. Easy Anti-Cheat says an accepted appeal reverts the ban automatically.
4. BattlEye games: use BattlEye’s contact form and choose “Ban appeals”.

Never spoof the hardware ID. Activision lists “any attempt to hide, disguise, or obfuscate … the identity of your hardware devices” as an infraction in its own right.

Before you buy

No maker publishes a lookup for banned hardware, and PCWorld found no way to know before buying unless the seller tells you. Asking the seller whether the machine was ever banned is the only check the reports describe, and it depends on their honesty.

A used part is not like a phone with someone else’s Activation Lock, which shows itself the first time you set it up. A hardware ban stays invisible until you launch the one game that enforces it, which may be after a return window has closed. A refurbished seller’s warranty, as our guide to who backs it found, is a promise about defects in materials and workmanship; none of the pages we read says whether a game ban counts.

The risk is narrow. PCWorld calls the problem “exceedingly rare”: you have to buy from someone who cheated in a game using the same anti-cheat, and got caught. For Call of Duty players buying a whole used PC, Activision’s warning is the strongest of the four, because it is the one with no appeal.

Questions people ask

Can a used CPU get you banned from Valorant?

It can. Riot says a hardware ban covers a computer’s physical components, not just the cheater’s account, and one buyer reported a used Ryzen 7 5800X3D arriving on Riot’s denylist. Riot’s head of anti-cheat says such bans last four months at most.

What does error VAN 152 mean?

Riot says VAN 152 means the device has a hardware ID ban. Reinstalling Vanguard or the game, changing your connection or restarting will not clear it. Riot’s HWID ban article explains how to ask for a review.

How long does a Valorant hardware ban last?

Riot’s support pages give no length. Its head of anti-cheat posted on 2 October 2026 that hardware bans last four months at most, and that support will tell you the time remaining if you write in.

Can you appeal a Call of Duty hardware ban?

No. Activision’s enforcement policy says hardware bans are not eligible for appeal. It also says their length varies and that banned hardware may be cleared for online play at any time.

How do I check if a used PC is hardware banned?

For Call of Duty, Activision says to log in with an account in good standing on any crossplay Call of Duty title on the device; a banned device shows a status notice. Riot advises the opposite for its games: do not log in on a PC you suspect is banned.

Will an HWID spoofer fix a hardware ban?

Do not try. Activision lists hiding or disguising the identity of your hardware as an infraction, and Riot treats an account used on banned hardware as an attempt to circumvent the ban and bans that account too.

How do I appeal an Easy Anti-Cheat ban?

Easy Anti-Cheat says to contact the game’s own support first; for Fortnite, Epic’s help site. Its appeal form at easy.ac takes the ban’s reference ID, and an accepted appeal reverts the ban automatically.