Key points
- Riot said on September 17, 2026 that 296,416 League of Legends and VALORANT accounts have been penalized since late 2025.
- Penalties range from rank removal and lost rewards to suspensions starting at three days.
- Purchased accounts, or accounts without a legitimate owner, are permanently banned.
- Riot says detection is still being expanded, so more action is coming.
What Riot announced
Riot said on September 17, 2026 that its Anti-Boost system, which runs through the Vanguard anti-cheat, has penalized 296,416 League of Legends and VALORANT accounts for rank manipulation since late 2025. The figure was not broken down by game. As quoted by TalkEsport, Riot put it this way: “296,416 rent-a-rank customers served and counting.”
What it looks for
According to Strafe’s report on the announcement, the system flags cases where “a significant portion of an account’s ranked points are earned by a higher-rated player”, along with behavior that does not match how the owner normally plays. The behaviors Riot named include:
- sharing an account with a boosting service (piloted boosting);
- paying a booster to play on a smurf in the same party;
- lending an account to a stronger friend to climb;
- buying an account to play against weaker opponents;
- deliberately losing to lower a rating, and using other people’s accounts to carry teammates.
The penalties
Most players caught lost the rank they had gained, lost seasonal rewards, or were suspended, starting at three days and escalating for repeat offenders. Accounts that were bought, or have no verified legitimate owner, are banned permanently. Riot said detection is not finished, which signals more enforcement ahead.
What it means for buyers
Piloted boosting, where someone logs into your account, is exactly what the system is built to detect, and duo boosts on a smurf in your party are named too. Bought accounts carry the worst outcome: a permanent ban. If you are weighing a boost, read when boosting makes sense first, and compare services on our VALORANT and League of Legends pages with the risk in mind.
Sources
- Strafe: nearly 300,000 LoL and VALORANT accounts penalizedSep 17, 2026
- TalkEsport: Riot bans 296,000+ accounts for boostingSep 17, 2026
- Earlygame: Riot bans nearly 300,000 accountsSep 2026
We report from official announcements first and name the outlet when a detail comes from one report. Found an error? Tell us, and see our editorial policy.
