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I understand your frustration with continuing charges on your AWS account despite not actively using any services. This is a common issue that can happen for several reasons.
Even when you don't see any active instances or services, you might still be incurring charges due to:
- Resources in different AWS regions - You may have resources running in regions you don't typically check
- "Hidden" resources that continue to incur charges such as:
- EBS volumes (storage) that remain even after instances are terminated
- Elastic IP addresses not attached to running instances
- Snapshots of previous instances
- Automated backups that are retained
- Static IP addresses (particularly with Lightsail)
To completely stop all charges, you should:
- Check all AWS regions for any resources using the EC2 Global View
- Review your detailed bill in the Billing Dashboard to identify exactly which services are generating charges
- Look for specific resources like unattached EBS volumes, snapshots, or Elastic IPs
- For Lightsail instances, note that stopping an instance doesn't stop billing - you need to delete it entirely
If you've tried everything and still can't locate the source of charges, you have two options:
- Contact AWS Support directly through the AWS Management Console under "Account and billing"
- Close your AWS account entirely (but make sure to terminate all resources first)
To close your account, go to Account Settings and scroll to the bottom where you'll find the "Close Account" option.
Sources
Stop being charged for EC2 with no instances - Please Help | AWS re:Post
Relational Database Service Charges How to Stop | AWS re:Post
Why am I being charged for a stopped Amazon Lightsail instance? | AWS re:Post
Billing without active service | AWS re:Post
Cancelling all services | AWS re:Post
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Internal AWS staff are downvoting these invalid billing issues. I've upvoted you because I've had the same.
ZERO support, AI BS answers.
Just chargeback on your credit card. It is the only recourse. People have waited 3+ months for answers, even while they used the premium support service (which in itself is a joke to pay for support while you are being charged large amounts for features you don't use!)