Someone used my API key and ran up a huge AI bill. What do I do now?
A leaked key for OpenAI, Gemini, OpenRouter or a cloud account gets found and used fast. Most people find out from the bill.
A post this month told the story of a developer whose keys Codex leaked while he slept. By the time he woke up, a $88,982 cloud bill was in his inbox.
We do the cleanup for you. We find where the key got out, shut it off everywhere, and put limits in place so the next leak cannot get that far.
What you get
- We find where the key leaked. That means your repo and its full history, the front-end code every visitor downloads, and your coding agent's settings files.
- Every exposed key rotated at the provider, with the new keys moved into your host's secret settings and out of the code.
- Spend caps and usage alerts on each AI provider and cloud account that offers them.
- A pre-commit check installed, so a key cannot be committed again.
- A plain written report of what leaked, what we changed, and anything left for you, like asking the provider about the charges.
Price, timing and the guarantee
Leaked key cleanup
$199
Done within 2 business days of getting read access to your repo and your provider dashboards.
If we cannot find how the key got out, or cannot rotate your keys and set the caps listed here, you get a full refund.
Rather talk first? Book a 15-minute call.
Payment runs through Stripe. Matt Turley will email you within one business day to set up access. We never ask for a password by email.
Why people are asking for this
Posts we read on October 26, 2026. Upvotes as of that day.
“Codex leaked this Dev's API keys while he slept. By the time he woke up, a huge $88,982 cloud bill was already in his inbox.”
r/vibecoding, 930 upvotes
“Ask HN: My Gemini bill shot up suddenly to 2500 USD in one day”
Hacker News, 10 upvotes
Who does the work
Matt Turley does this work himself, with AI agents doing the legwork, and he checks everything before it reaches you. Continuum builds and looks after software for small businesses and founders. Questions before you buy: hello@uxcontinuum.com. Everything we offer.