My Amazon Account Got Hacked! What You Can Do.
My Amazon account got hacked due to an easy loophole I never knew about.
It’s an awful feeling. Someone was in my virtual stuff. I didn’t even know my amazon account got hacked.
The dude hijacked my account and started his spending spree using gift cards my family gave me for Christmas. All behind my back.
If you’re like me, you’re looking for life hacks to make life easier and less stressful. We have wireless WIFI with memorized passwords and cards stored online in “secure” accounts…of course they’re secure, right? They only show the last four digits of any card.
Not necessarily so secure, turns out.
Amazon account hackers beware…I’m giving the power back to the true account owners!
I had a $85.39 Amazon Gift Card balance, a $100 Amazon Gift Card, and a $50 Amazon Gift Card stored online in my Amazon Wallet. I’d uploaded them for convenience to use on a near future business purchase I was gearing up to place.
The hint my Amazon account got hacked
I received an email from Amazon thanking me for changing the email associated with my amazon account.
Puzzling because: a) I’d had client work all day, so I’d not even been in my email until 8:34pm that night and b) I had not been on Amazon at all last few days.
Figuring it was simply a phishing email, I became alarmed when I clicked on the From: in the email header and discovered what appeared to be a legitimate Amazon company email address.
Amazon Support
I immediately logged into my Amazon account to contact support.
Only-I-couldn’t-log-in. Which leads me to an aside, that I experience whenever I try to get to Amazon Support.
Ever try to find Amazon’s Help Phone Number? It’s like clicking through some video game where you have to click 14 different responses to questions that don’t even apply. {I may be exaggerating here, I’ve never actually counted my clicks}.
NO. I don’t want to answer or read anything right now. I want to speak to a live support person ASAP.
Thanks to my virtual boyfriend, Google, I found the number and called.
Yep. Someone not only hacked into my account, which means they somehow figured out my email and my password at Amazon, they also locked me out by changing the email associated with my account.
Cancel, cancel, cancel
Support helps me change back this hacker email to my email account, and then I change my password.
I log in, still on the call, and right in front of my eyes an order for Men’s extreme under armour Size L for $89.32 shows up on the screen. He must not have known he’d need to do battle with the wits of a clever, organized woman.
I tell Amazon Support to cancel the order only to be told, “Oh we can’t cancel, it’s already been shipped.”
Call me naive, but I suggest, “Well you have this fraudster’s email address, and the shipping address, can’t you track this person down and stop him doing further damage to other people?”
Nope. See, I don’t think like a cyber thief. These hackers know what they’re doing. They send things to delivery services not a home address.
My Amazon account got hacked…thief empty handed!
Thankfully I did not stop there and contacted the merchant to notify of the fraudulent purchase and they cancelled the order…thief unfulfilled!
Now I’m going to give you a financial organizing tip. Do not store gift cards on websites. They are different than credit cards, and easier for a fraudster to use. They don’t necessarily need any card numbers to use them.
Keep your card in a safe place. When you’re ready to purchase online, retrieve the gift card, and redeem it right then and there.
I now see it as inconvenient, but wise to be selective what I store online. I’m going old school. Technology is great for us…and great for hackers and thieves too.
Keeping you, sweet friend, breathing easy
I love helping people safely and responsibly hack through their lives with financial organizing such as preparation for legal matters, taxes, daily bills and managing their paper piles.
Don’t let clutter and overwhelm rob you of the life you secretly desire. Contact me to now to book your free 20 minute Discovery Call and make room for more freedom in your life!
This is enraging, scary and enlightening all at once! Thanks for this information, I always assume Amazon would be hack proof. This is so important to know. Thanks.
Glad I empowered you with some Amazon enlightenment 🙂 I am on a mission to hack proof our wallets from internet thievery.
Oh Wow… that’s horrible — so appreciate your taking the time to tell us what happened, and how to avoid. Bookmarking this for the next time I get a gift-card for Amazon!
Horrible and empowering Helene 🙂 From all the comment support I know I have educated many to keeping their online accounts more secure.
Oh no!!! Did you find out how it got hacked in the first place?
Did it affect your other accounts?
Good advice, but sorry to hear your story 🙁
Thanks Erin for your supportive comment. Well, the good news is, though it was not discovered how the hacker stole my login information, my post is an ounce of prevention to thwart future hacking of Amazon gift card balances. Fortunately credit cards were safe, and there was no cost or damage to me because my being organized, particularly financially, I caught the cyber thief mid-act and he ended up only inconveniencing me…and gifting me (and my clan) a great lesson 🙂
Sorry to hear you got hacked! Appreciate your tips and I will NEVER story gift cards online. Hackers are getting more clever these days. Send him a little gift to her shipping address 😉
So glad my post helped and that you appreciated my tips, Reena! Now that would be gift giving…
Jul’s, I’m so sorry this happened to you and that on top of being hacked, it was a lot of hoops to jump through even after! Thank you for sharing your story so the rest of us could benefit and not suffer the same aggravation you did! So glad to have YOU as a resource and life hack professional!!
Hey April Sweets! Happy to keep my peeps informed and able to be their and your life hack professional resource 🙂
oh my gosh, NO! i’m so sorry this happened to you. but thanks for letting us all know about this fraudulent technique – i think one of my sons may have a amazon gift card from christmas waiting to be used.
oh, and i love love love this: “I log in, still on the call, and right in front of my eyes an order for Men’s extreme under armour Size L for $89.32 shows up on the screen. He must have known he’d need to do battle with the wits of a clever, organized woman.” i’d say he picked the wrong woman to do battle with!
Indeed! Women like us April…we are the first to praise those who are doing good in this world, and also the first to thwart wrong doing as we care so much about creating healing and room to breathe for those we serve and love.
What an experience Jul’s. I really admire you for not being fobbed off my Amazon’s initial response and I’m so glad that the merchant was able to cancel the transaction.
I’d never thought about stored gift cards being more ‘hackable’ but I’ll sure make note of it now! I do tend to use mine ‘in the moment’ so luckily I haven’t left myself open to that in the past.
Thank so much for your thoughtful comment Ferris 🙂
Wow, that was truly eye-opening and very scary! Thanks for sharing your tips. I will make sure I prioritise my own online security from now on.
Glad you found my cyber security tip helpful, Sonja!