VPN or Proxy Detected on an Offerwall? How to Fix It

Why does the offerwall say VPN or proxy detected?

An offerwall says “VPN or proxy detected” when your connection reaches it through something that hides your real address and location: a VPN app, a proxy, Tor, a data center or cloud network, or a privacy feature that works like one. Advertisers pay only for real people in the countries they target, so offers cannot be tracked or paid through those connections. Turn the feature off, switch to your normal home Wi-Fi or mobile data, and open the wall again. If you are sure nothing is on, one of the hidden causes below is the likely reason.

This guide is for people who earn on rewards sites, apps, games and communities with an offerwall. If you run one of those sites, the last section before the FAQ is for you.

What the Sharklio offerwall shows when it blocks a connection

Wording differs between walls. On sites with the Sharklio offerwall, the check runs when the wall opens and again when you start an offer. If it finds a connection it cannot accept, you see one of these instead of offers:

The VPN, proxy, Tor and network messages show two short steps (turn the cause off, then tap Try again), a link to the connection help page, and a Contact support button. If the wall still sees the same connection after Try again, the message changes to “Still detected” and tells you what to check next. If you tap Start and see “We could not check your connection. Turn off any ad blocker for this page,” your blocker stopped the check: pause it for the wall and start the offer again.

Why offerwalls block VPNs and proxies

Advertisers pay for real people in real countries. Every offer is bought for specific countries and devices. A game studio paying for players in Canada will not pay for someone elsewhere who looks Canadian through a VPN. When the location is hidden, the advertiser rejects the result and your reward never arrives, so blocking the connection first saves you the wasted time. Offer not credited? Why rewards go missing shows how a reward travels from the advertiser to your balance.

VPNs and proxies are the main tool of reward fraud. Multi-accounters and people faking a higher-paying country rely on them, which is why most rewards sites ban VPNs in their terms. Stop multi-accounting and VPN abuse covers the site owner’s side.

The check judges addresses, not intentions. The wall sees an internet address and what is known about it: a VPN provider, a hosting company, a Tor exit, or a range proxy services have used. What is IP reputation? explains why an honest user can land on a flagged address.

Not using a VPN? The usual hidden causes

Most of these cases come from a feature that acts like a VPN without calling itself one.

iCloud Private Relay

Apple’s About iCloud Private Relay page says that when you browse in Safari, the second relay “generates a temporary IP address” to connect you to the site, and Apple’s page on managing Private Relay for websites and networks warns that sites relying on IP filtering might block you. The iPhone User Guide gives these switches:

• Pause it: Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay, then Turn Off Until Tomorrow. It comes back on within 24 hours.
• Off for one Wi-Fi network: Settings > Wi-Fi, tap the info button next to the network, and turn off Limit IP Address Tracking.
• For one site: open Safari’s Page Menu and tap Show IP Address (on a Mac, View > Reload and Show IP Address).

Browsers with a built-in VPN

Opera’s security and privacy help says that with its VPN on, “from the point of view of websites, your browser is now located in the region given by the virtual location.” Click the VPN badge in the address bar and flip the switch to turn it off. Microsoft’s Edge Secure Network page says the feature works by “masking your IP address and providing a similar regional location”; you find it under Settings and more > More tools > Secure Network. If you subscribe to Brave VPN, disconnect it from its VPN button. Turn off VPN and proxy extensions too.

Antivirus and security apps

Security suites often bundle a VPN. Norton’s help page on VPN settings in the Norton 360 mobile app, for example, recommends an Auto Connect mode that turns the VPN on by itself on networks it considers unsafe. Disconnect or pause it in the app while you use the wall.

Mobile carriers and shared addresses

Many mobile carriers, and some home providers, put lots of customers behind one public address, a setup called carrier-grade NAT; the IETF set aside an address block for it in RFC 6598. If one person on that address uses a VPN or a proxy app, the whole address can pick up a bad reputation. Toggling airplane mode for a few seconds, or restarting your router, can give you a different one.

Apps that turn your phone into a proxy

Some apps quietly route other people’s traffic through your device, which puts your address into a residential proxy network. Google’s Threat Intelligence Group described this in its January 2026 report on disrupting a large residential proxy network: developers were paid to embed proxy kits, many apps did not disclose it, and some were VPN apps that also enrolled the device. Google urged consumers to be “extremely wary of applications that offer payment in exchange for ‘unused bandwidth’ or ‘sharing your internet’.” If you have such an app, or a free VPN you no longer trust, uninstall it and restart your router. What is a residential proxy? explains why offerwalls watch for these addresses.

Apple, Opera, Microsoft and Norton settings checked on October 29, 2026. Menu names change between versions.

How to fix it, step by step

After each step, close the wall, open it again from the site you use, and tap Try again. Most people are back after the first two.

1. Disconnect your VPN app, and turn off auto-connect or Always-on VPN, because many VPN apps reconnect by themselves.
2. Turn off browser VPNs and extensions: Opera’s VPN badge, Edge Secure Network, Brave VPN, and any VPN or proxy extension.
3. Pause iCloud Private Relay if you use Safari with iCloud+.
4. Pause the VPN in your security app, and any data saver or private DNS app.
5. Check proxy settings. On Windows, Settings > Network & internet > Proxy; on a Mac, the Proxies section of your network’s details; on a phone, the Wi-Fi network’s proxy option. Set it to off or automatic.
6. Switch networks once. From work, school, hotel or public Wi-Fi, move to home Wi-Fi or mobile data.
7. Get a fresh address. Toggle airplane mode on mobile data, or turn your router off for a few minutes.
8. Wait a minute and try again. A change usually shows within seconds, but can take a little longer.

The connection help page adds menu paths for each device and browser, plus router steps for a home connection flagged as a proxy.

Still blocked? Who to contact

On a Sharklio wall, Contact support opens Sharklio’s contact form with your user ID filled in and the topic set to a technical problem. Say what the message says, your device and browser, Wi-Fi or mobile data, your internet or mobile provider, any VPN, data saver or security app you have, and which steps you already tried.

Use the missing reward form only for rewards. On a wall not powered by Sharklio, start with the site you earn on.

For site owners: explain it and cut support tickets

VPN messages are among the most common tickets a rewards site gets. A few habits keep them down:

• Say it before users hit it. One line on your earn page and in your FAQ: “Offers need a normal home or mobile connection. Turn off VPNs, proxies, browser VPNs and iCloud Private Relay before you open the offerwall.”
• Link the help page. On Sharklio walls the message already links to connection help; link it from your FAQ too.
• Route tickets. Connection messages go to the wall’s support through the button on the message, missing rewards to the missing reward form or your own process (see Handling missing reward tickets), and balance questions stay with you.
• Never suggest a VPN. Traffic that disguises its location breaks the traffic quality rules, and those results are rejected or reversed anyway. Do not promote the wall to VPN or proxy app audiences.
• Test from a normal connection. From a cloud server, remote desktop or cloud test device you will see “Network not supported”. The testing docs list each block page; with the Offers API, your server’s requests are not checked, but the offer start link is.

Frequently asked questions