So can hackers...
Amazon Account Hacked
- Thread starter SumDay
- Start date
So can hackers...
Not if you drop it over the side halfway through a two-week cruise.
With that experience, I learned that we depend on our phones WAY too much. Re-creating all the data, and more importantly, all the access we depend on day-to-day, is a much bigger project than simply getting another phone with the same number.
Yes, you can back up the phone, and restore it to the new one. And you should. Also remember to do frequent backups!
But in the interim, you've lost your second factor for authentication. You may find it difficult to make financial transactions or buy on line. Just buying the new phone itself, plus a new case for it, can get complicated if you don't still have the old one.
I'm just suggesting you think long and hard about how badly you might need to access any site which uses your cell phone for two-factor authentication.
Chuckanut
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I avoid 2FA using a call back. It's too easy for the bad guys to hijack a Sim card these days.
Best is to use 2FA using an authenticator app. Print a copy of the QR codes you have to scan and you can easily set it up on another device.
Best is to use 2FA using an authenticator app. Print a copy of the QR codes you have to scan and you can easily set it up on another device.
No, I meant you should put in your mobile phone number in that field. It should send you the one time code to verify you, then give you a new screen to put in your landline number as a backup.
At least, that's the way it's supposed to work.
The Cosmic Avenger
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I use an authenticator app for Amazon. The authentication code gets requested only for an unrecognized device. I avoided using this method of 2FA earlier on. Now I'm a collector with authentication for 10 places and counting.
Nice! I just checked, and I'm up to 12 in LastPass Authenticator....plus the Symantec authenticator app that only Fidelity uses.
Ian S
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Step one I put in my mobile phone number and it took that fine. Step 2 was to input a backup device. I tried inputting my mobile number again and it said I couldn't use it since it was already the primary device. I input my landline and checked box to skip verification and it accepted that so I was able to turn on 2sv. However when I brought up the 2sv settings it showed my landline as the backup but had it set to get a text. When I tried to edit that, there was no option for anything but a text. So I disabled 2sv. Maybe I'll try the authenticator route instead but I need to read up on that more first. Or I'll wait until hubby gets back and set it up with his cell phone as backup.
travelover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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I'm confused. In the OP's case, what was the intent of the hacker?
OP
OP
SumDay
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That is my question as well. She used a credit card that wasn't mine, and her own address and email. Why not just set up your own new account? I do wonder if it was a glitch, but calling the police department in her town and learning that she was "well known" to them makes me wonder.
You can submit complaints to the FBI, if this happens to you:
https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
Since I didn't suffer any financial loss, not sure they'd even look at it. I'm sure they have bigger fish to fry.
She sounds like the most inept hacker ever!
Until you said that she's known to her local PD, I was thinking that she probably had an Amazon account under an old email address that was similar to yours and she had called them for help in getting access to her old account and Amazon made a mistake and got her into yours instead.
Until you said that she's known to her local PD, I was thinking that she probably had an Amazon account under an old email address that was similar to yours and she had called them for help in getting access to her old account and Amazon made a mistake and got her into yours instead.
Lsbcal
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I would guess that she was locked out from Amazon due to transgressions and using you as a way to get back into the Amazon ecosystem.
gtweath
Dryer sheet aficionado
Same thing happened to me, but with walmart.com. I got an email from walmart saying my package was on it's way. Logged into my account and the name was changed as well as the shipping address, but the email and password weren't. He left my credit card info intact but added his own. I changed the password, deleted the cc, changed the name back and have since seen no activity. I think it was a walmart screw up that logged him into my account accidently...
I've been pondering how this could happen. Having had a recent experience calling Amazon Customer Support, I think it's not out of the question.
Call center staff, non-native English speaker, asks a bunch of questions. Finds a name similar to yours. Because of the language barrier, you just say "yes" to whatever he/she asks you about the account. Starts making changes to "your" account.
Also, for anything even slightly out of the ordinary, these first-level customer support people are totally untrained. They're nice enough, and do what they can to help, but between an inability to communicate with the caller, and their limited experience, I can see where it would be easy to make mistakes.
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