Reddit user dmanthey said they grabbed four used Switch 1 titles off Facebook Marketplace and updated them on their new console. The next day, Nintendo greeted them with a ban hammer and locked them out of online services.

The games were legit, but thanks to Nintendo’s slightly Orwellian piracy system, the user got flagged anyway. Nintendo embeds unique codes in each cartridge to track online use. If the same code shows up in two places, bans fly regardless of intent. Engadget notes, “bad actors can copy games onto a third-party device, like the MIG Flash, and then resell the physical game card.”

In this case, dmanthey escaped Nintendo’s wrath by digging up receipts and Marketplace listings. “The process was painless and fast, and it was so much easier than getting support from Microsoft or Sony,” they said.

Others on Reddit weren’t so lucky, warning that not everyone gets such a clean resolution.

Nintendo has been slapping bans on players using MIG Flash tools even if they’re just dumping their own ROMs. And while getting banned won’t brick your Switch 2 outright, you’ll lose access to online features and digital purchases, making your handheld an expensive paperweight.