You cannot legally buy accounts for blue essence, and doing so violates League of Legends' terms of service
Riot Games, the company that makes League of Legends, explicitly prohibits buying and selling player accounts. If you purchase an account from another player or a third-party seller, Riot can and will ban both the account you buy and potentially your own account if you're caught. This is not a gray area—it's stated directly in their terms of service, and enforcement is real.
The reason Riot takes this seriously is that account sales create fraud risk for the buyer, enable account theft, and undermine the game's economy. When you buy an account, you have no legal recourse if the seller takes it back, changes the password, or if Riot discovers the sale and suspends it. You lose your money and the account.
Blue essence is the in-game currency you earn by playing matches and completing missions. It cannot be purchased with real money—only with Riot Points (RP), which is the premium currency. Some sellers claim to offer accounts with large blue essence reserves, but these accounts are often stolen, compromised, or flagged for suspension.
Key Takeaways
- Buying League of Legends accounts violates Riot Games' terms of service and results in permanent bans for both the purchased account and your own account.
- Blue essence cannot be bought directly with real money; it is earned through gameplay, and accounts with large reserves are often stolen or flagged for suspension.
- Third-party account sellers have no accountability, and you have no way to recover money or the account if the seller reclaims it or Riot detects the sale.
- Riot Games actively monitors for account sales and uses automated detection to flag suspicious account activity, including sudden ownership changes and unusual login patterns.
How Riot Games detects and punishes account purchases
Riot has multiple detection systems in place. When an account changes hands, the login location, device, IP address, and play patterns shift suddenly. Their automated systems flag these changes, especially when combined with other signals like a new payment method being added or the account being accessed from a different region.
If Riot determines an account was bought or sold, they issue a permanent ban to that account. If your own account is found to have purchased another account, Riot may ban your account as well. The ban is not temporary—it is permanent and applies to all accounts associated with your email address or device.
Riot also works with law enforcement and payment processors to track down sellers operating at scale. If you use a credit card or PayPal to buy an account, that transaction creates a record that can be traced. Many buyers have reported chargebacks on their cards after Riot banned the account they purchased.
Why sellers claim to have blue essence accounts available
Sellers advertise accounts with high blue essence reserves because blue essence is what players need to unlock champions and cosmetics. A new player might see an account with 50,000 blue essence and think they are getting a shortcut to progression. In reality, they are buying a liability.
Some of these accounts are legitimately owned by the seller but were created specifically to farm blue essence through automated play or by exploiting game mechanics. Riot bans accounts used for farming. Other accounts are stolen from players whose passwords were compromised or who fell for phishing scams. The seller does not own them and cannot transfer ownership—they are straightforward reselling access to an account they do not have the right to sell.
A third category of accounts are flagged internally by Riot but not yet banned. The seller knows the account will be suspended soon and is trying to offload it before that happens. You would discover this only after you have paid and the account is locked.
What happens if you buy an account and Riot bans it
You lose access to the account when ready. You cannot recover it, and you cannot recover the money you paid to the seller. The seller is not a business with a refund policy—they are an individual or a small operation with no accountability. If you try to contact them, they will not respond, or they will claim the account was already compromised when you bought it.
If Riot bans your own account for purchasing another account, you lose access to all champions, skins, and progress on that account as well. You cannot create a new account on the same email address or device without risking another ban if Riot detects a pattern.
Some buyers have tried to dispute the charge with their credit card company, claiming fraud. This sometimes results in a chargeback, but it does not restore the account. Riot will not reverse a ban based on a chargeback, and the seller will not refund you. You end up with no account and a chargeback dispute on your payment history.
The legitimate way to earn blue essence
Blue essence is earned by playing matches, completing missions, and opening champion shards from loot boxes. The rate varies depending on your game mode and mission completion, but a typical player earns between 500 and 2,000 blue essence per week. Progression is slower than buying an account would be, but it is the only way that does not risk a ban.
Riot occasionally runs events that offer bonus blue essence or reduced champion costs. These are announced in the client and on the League of Legends website. If you are trying to unlock a specific champion, watching for these events can speed up the process without spending real money.
If you want to spend real money on League of Legends, Riot Points are the legitimate currency. You can use RP to buy cosmetics, battle passes, and champion skins. You cannot convert RP directly to blue essence, but you can buy cosmetics and then disenchant them into essence if you no longer want them.
Red flags that indicate a seller is operating a scam
If a seller is offering accounts at a price significantly below market rate, the account is either stolen or flagged for suspension. Legitimate account sales do not happen at discount prices because there is no legitimate account sales market—Riot prohibits it entirely.
Sellers who ask you to pay through untraceable methods like gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers are signaling that they know the transaction is risky and do not want a record of it. Legitimate businesses accept credit cards and PayPal because those methods offer buyer protection. Scammers avoid them.
If a seller claims the account is "safe" or "undetected," they are acknowledging that detection is a risk. No account purchased from a third party is safe. If a seller offers a may provide that Riot will not ban the account, that may provide is worthless—Riot does not honor guarantees made by third parties, and the seller has no ability to prevent a ban.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy an account from a friend without getting banned?
No. Riot's terms of service prohibit account sales regardless of whether the seller is a friend or a stranger. If Riot detects that an account changed hands, both accounts can be banned. The friendship does not change Riot's enforcement policy.
What if I buy an account and use a VPN to hide the login location?
A VPN does not prevent detection. Riot monitors for sudden changes in account behavior, not just location. If the play style, champion pool, rank, and activity patterns change overnight, Riot's systems flag it. A VPN makes it more obvious that something is wrong, not less.
Are there websites that sell accounts legally?
No. Any website selling League of Legends accounts is operating against Riot's terms of service. Some websites claim to be "official" or "verified," but Riot does not authorize any third-party account sales. If a website is selling accounts, Riot considers it a violation.
Can I get my money back if the account is banned after I buy it?
Not through Riot. Riot does not refund banned accounts, and they do not hold sellers accountable. Your only option is to dispute the charge with your credit card company or payment processor, but this does not restore the account. Most sellers operate in ways that make chargebacks difficult or impossible.
Is it safer to buy an account that is already high rank?
No. High-rank accounts are actually more likely to be banned because they are more valuable and more likely to have been stolen. Thieves target high-rank accounts specifically because they can sell them for more money. A high-rank account is a higher-risk purchase, not a safer one.