To Catch A Hacker

Several days ago I got an e-mail from Amazon mentioning 2 Kindle books that I had ordered. Except that I hadn't ordered any. Immediately concerned, I changed my password and looked more closely at my account. There were 2 free Kindle books that I had not ordered and a 2nd Kindle device registered on my account {I only have a Kindle app on my Android.}.

I contacted Amazon and was told to just cancel what I didn't want and they saw that I had already changed my password. I replied that it looked suspicious to me as somebody definitely accessed my account. They replied back that they looked into it and did not see any suspicious activity but they would send the matter on.

I was more than a little concerned that Amazon didn't feel that somebody getting my password and accessing my account was "suspicious" even though there had been no fraudulent charges. I thought maybe somebody was testing out my account to see if I noticed the activity before they tried making a costly purchase. I was about to write up a post telling you to check your accounts and keep an eye on them!

But then, I discovered the identity of the hacker. Isn't that amazing? I couldn't believe it - I was shocked!

Turns out it was my dad.

Yes, my dad who lives out-of-state. This 81 year-old man in the picture - obviously a hardened criminal.

Good thing I caught him and saved all of you from his computer-hacking skillz.  ;)

How on earth did this happen, you ask? Dad came to visit just a few days after my Amazon experience. While he was here, he showed me his new Kindle Fire {yes, he is cooler than me - I don't even have a Kindle}. Later, he was asking if I had an Amazon account. I told him that I did. And then I began to realize that I had a criminal in the car with me. LOL!

He had gone on his computer to bring up Amazon and when the page came up he started testing out adding free Kindle books, even registering his device somehow. But he couldn't access the books. He then noticed my name on the page but couldn't figure out why it was there. He eventually got to his own Amazon account and assumed that none of that had even showed up. Obviously I used his computer to access Amazon when I visited a few months back so that was the page that automatically came up - I may have even checked the box telling his computer to remember me.

We had a such a good laugh over the whole thing!! I was so relieved that nobody had actually figured out my password and accessed my account! At the same time, you should be cautious if you use your Amazon account on any shared computers or devices. Somebody might be able to access your account. Like your dad.  :)

Hope you enjoyed the story - we got such a kick out of it! Got a funny story to share? I'd love to hear it!

Have a marvelous day friends!