I am completely locked out of my account and the "Contact us" page is useless

Question

I was doing the recommended approach where you never login to your root account, but create a second account and give it admin rights

First Mistake:   I setup an MFA device on my root account probably about a decade ago and lost track of it.  It was probably an RSA app several cell phones ago.

Second Mistake: I used my home landline number for my account. I never actually receive calls on that number, I've had the ringer turned off for several years and finally gave up that number earlier this year when my router died and ATT couldn't send a tech out for a week, so I switched to T-mobile that day and couldn't transfer the number.

I never noticed the problems with these 2 mistakes as I was always logging in with my secondary user

Third mistake:   I was taking a course with a tutorial that had us playing with different IAM roles.  I accidentally removed admin permissions from secondary user and immediately lost all access.

I have been trying to use the "Contact Us" page that AWS provides and it just keeps bouncing me back and forth between the AI chatbot and the AI form.

If I can talk to a live human, I can provide driver license, credit card info, whatever it takes to verify my identity and one of 3 things can happen to fix my account:
* Temporarily remove MFA so I can login with my existing password and email
* update my phone number from an obsolete landline to my current cell.
* undo the last action I did on my secondary account to restore admin rights to it.

I know the passwords to both of those accounts, and I have access to my email.

Eric Zeller · Answer

I have opened [CASE 176706781600881] on Dec 29 and I have submitted a notarized form on Jan 7. There has been no progress since then.  Can I get an update on the progess?

re:Post Agent · Answer

I understand your frustration with being locked out of your AWS account. This is a challenging situation with multiple factors preventing access.

For recovering access to your root account when you've lost your MFA device and don't have access to the registered phone number, you'll need to contact AWS Support directly for manual account recovery and identity verification.

The specific process for this situation is:

1. Use this specific URL to request MFA deactivation: https://support.aws.amazon.com/#/contacts/one-support?formId=mfa

2. When submitting your request, provide as much detail as possible about your situation, including:
- The steps you've already taken to recover access
- The exact error messages you're receiving
- Any changes in your contact information since account creation
- That you have access to the root email but not the phone number

3. Gather documentation that can prove your identity and ownership of the AWS account. This might include government-issued ID (like your driver's license), billing information, and any other relevant documents.

4. Be patient but persistent with your support case. If you don't receive a response within a reasonable timeframe, try submitting another request.

In some cases, network issues can also prevent verification calls from coming through. If possible, try initiating the recovery process from a different network or device.

For future reference, it's recommended to:
- Keep MFA device information updated
- Have multiple recovery options configured
- Regularly review and update your security settings and contact information
- Consider using a virtual MFA device (like Google Authenticator) and backing up the MFA seeds securely

AWS Support should be able to help you regain access through identity verification, though the process may take some time due to security protocols.  
**Sources**  
[Unable to access AWS root account – MFA device lost and phone verification call not received | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUpB97gHtdSHO_kAAMg-t1LQ/unable-to-access-aws-root-account-mfa-device-lost-and-phone-verification-call-not-received)  
[locked out of account | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUD66dysX4Sgu_h6FQf5H66A/locked-out-of-account)  
[Recover user Access or recover AWS | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QU3ZOi_z_6TAeFqfvtRj2RRg/recover-user-access-or-recover-aws)  
[Urgent: Root User MFA Issues - Cannot Access AWS Account Due to Invalid Contact Methods | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUMrwagMNlTDS6HcGcQ6q1zw/urgent-root-user-mfa-issues-cannot-access-aws-account-due-to-invalid-contact-methods)

I am completely locked out of my account and the "Contact us" page is useless

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