# Help! Amazon account hacked



## spitzlvr (Jun 6, 2011)

I am posting here because I know you guys will have the answer.

This morning I got am email from Amazon - they suspect my account was hacked, and are closing the account.

They said my financial info was not accessed - boy I hope not!

They tried to buy $300 in gift cards!!! 

Now for the questions - that account was the one I used for my Kindle (I have the kindle for PC app).

I can open another account, but how do I associate that new account with kindle? Without losing my books? Do I just associate it with the same credit card I will be using another email account.

I am so mad about this!


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

My best advice, call Kindle Customer support at 866-321-8851 and they will help you..


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

spitzlvr said:


> I am posting here because I know you guys will have the answer.
> 
> This morning I got am email from Amazon - they suspect my account was hacked, and are closing the account.
> 
> ...


Yes, call Amazon Customer Service; are you sure the email was from Amazon? Phishing emails have gotten very good--they look like they come from Amazon. If you call Amazon CS, you can verify that the information came from Amazon.

Betsy


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## spitzlvr (Jun 6, 2011)

As soon as I get the kids to school and daycare I will be calling.

I am so stupid - most of my accounts have seriously strong passwords, this one didn't because my husband uses it as well.

Bad news for hubby...


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## laurie_lu (May 10, 2010)

If you haven't already, I would install Calibre.  Upload all your book from your Kindle into the Calibre library on your computer.  Deregister you Kindle.  Once you create a new Amazon account, re-register your Kindle under the new Amazon account.  Hook your Kindle up to your computer and transfer all those books in the Calibre library back onto your Kindle.


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## spitzlvr (Jun 6, 2011)

It's funny - I live by callibre for my Nook, never thought of putting my Kindle stuff there.

I don't have a Kindle - I use the Kindle for PC app. 

Other then by stripping the DRM and sideloading I am not sure how Callibre can help. I can certainly put the encrypted books into Callibre, but how do I then get them back into the changed Kindle App? And since it is a different account, I would think the encryption wouldn't allow me to open them.

I am off to deliver the kids. Then I will call Amazon...they have to have a plan in place to make it better. 

This sucks


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## laurie_lu (May 10, 2010)

Betsy is right.  Call them to verify this hacking is legit and not a phishing scam.

Kindle customer service is excellent and they bend over backwards to make things right for their customers.  They most likely will verify your personal information on file and hopefully transfer those ebook purchases over to your new account.


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## spitzlvr (Jun 6, 2011)

It's legit - after I read the email (and freaked out) I read the rest of my email.
In my folder "Bills and purchases" at 4:51am (Eastern) is a nice "Your order at Amazon" email.
It told me about my 6 $50 giftcards that were going to some other email address!!! 
So I am confident it is real. Depressed, but confident.

I will update after I call Amazon...


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## spitzlvr (Jun 6, 2011)

Well, I called Amazon. They were very nice. She asked for my information but couldn't get into my account because it was on hold. My issue needs to be escalated (which I figured). She has done so, and I should be getting an email within the next 24 hours telling me how to proceed. I have full faith that they will be able to transfer the books.

I will do nothing till I hear from them - I won't create a new Amazon account, won't open my Kindle app. 

The worst part is last night at bedtime we bought a book on knots (my hubby is a cub scout leader). He couldn't wait to start digging into the knots for the boys. He started looking at it in bed on his iphone! Now I am going to make him wait. I don't want something to get screwed up.

sigh.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

I think I would call the credit card company that is involved with this attempted purchase and make sure it doesn't clear.


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## codebot (Jun 29, 2011)

spitzlvr said:


> I am posting here because I know you guys will have the answer.
> 
> This morning I got am email from Amazon - they suspect my account was hacked, and are closing the account.
> 
> ...


The same exact thing happened to my wife last night, down to the same amount in gift cards. Did they try to send them to an email address? They tried that with my wife and I complained to their hosting company already.


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## AnelaBelladonna (Apr 8, 2009)

How did they got your account information?  

Edit:  First thing I did after reading this was go change my amazon.com password.  The second thing I did was a google search and a lot of the amazon.com hacks came from account information derived from the recent Sony hacks.  Did you have any Sony or Playstation accounts?

Edit 2:  OR it could have been the recent LulzSec hackers that posted email addresses and passwords online for everyone to see.


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## JayPosey (Jan 16, 2012)

Did anyone ever get this resolved?  The same thing happened to my wife over Christmas, and unfortunately Amazon Customer Service has been unhelpful ... It's been almost three weeks now, and despite repeated promises to call her within 24 hours, no one has gotten back to her yet.

Thanks,
Jay P.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Do you buy from Zappos?  Amazon bought Zappos a while ago.  Zappos was hacked -- some customer info taken.  So somehow . . . ?


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## Mollyb52 (Jan 4, 2009)

My Amazon account got hacked December 2009.  I saw someone had purchased a very expensive camera with a different credit card (not mine) and was having it delivered to a different address.  I had to contact Amazon myself and finally got them to stop the delivery so at least the thief did not get the item.  Amazon closed down that  account.  All of my Kindle books were there. Amazon customer service said there was no way to transfer them to my new account. I lost them all.  Amazon did give me a very generous credit to my new account to replace my books...but the books were gone.  Try to get your books backed up as soon as you can because they closed down my account first and then notified me.  So sorry that happened to you...good luck.  I just changed my password too, you never know.


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## Cyanide5000 (Aug 30, 2010)

Sounds pretty bad, did they buy anything on your account? if not then id get everything backed up and passwords changed on a different computer


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## ElaineOK (Jun 5, 2009)

I have yet to hear of a hacking story where the account holder got to keep his books.  Anyone else?  

Elaine 
Norman, OK


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

Nope. THis is why you should save your Kindle books to your computer just in case. Amazon does not move books from one account to another in the acse of an account being hacked. If you have the books saved on your computer (and backed up someplace else as well) you at least have the books available to you. If they are registered to a specific Kindle you should be fine. If they are not you have options. Maybe not the most savory of options and not options that are discussed at this site but options none the less.

Personally, I believe that Amazon is acting in bad faith by not transfering ebooks, videos, and music that the account holder has bought. They know when the hacking happened, they should be able to move anything that was purchased before that date to a new account.


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

This is a concern for me.  IMO my computer or kindle will die before amazon will. The kindle books are set for one kindle.  I can see changing tittle to be able to work on different device if amazon is defunct but not before.  The issue of someone out of my control messes with my site causing it to be closed down making me lose my titles is wrong.  I have heard one story were titles got moved from one site to another here on kb and so I have a little hope and I think I am not unussual in feeling this way I hope amazon fixes this.
Sylvia


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

I wish we could do something more advanced than passwords. People have so many passwords to remember, that they keep them too simple, or use the same password at multiple sites. Electronic cards would be better.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Last week - I happened to be on one of my credit card websites and discovered that someone had made approx $1000 in charges to multiple vendors.  I still had the card so it was done online.  I called the credit card company immediately and they closed the account.  Since then the charges have been removed - but be aware that there are laws for Visa and MasterCharge (not sure about others...) that  the max liability is $50 if you have not authorized the charge..   I wasn't even charged that.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

QuantumIguana said:


> I wish we could do something more advanced than passwords. People have so many passwords to remember, that they keep them too simple, or use the same password at multiple sites. Electronic cards would be better.


Buy a "password vault" program. There are lots of them out there. I use 1Password because it syncs my Mac with my iPhone and iPad. I only have to remember ONE password this way, and can generate strong randomized passwords easily that are then stored (encrypted) in the app. Yes, it's an extra step or two, since I now have to cut & paste my passwords from the app to the website. But I have a lot less worry now about things like this.

Now if only places like Zappos would encrypt their stinkin' personally identifiable customer info...but that's a rant for another time.


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## LaraAmber (Feb 24, 2009)

ProfCrash said:


> Personally, I believe that Amazon is acting in bad faith by not transfering ebooks, videos, and music that the account holder has bought. They know when the hacking happened, they should be able to move anything that was purchased before that date to a new account.


All it will take is one person raising a big enough stink to the press and Amazon will find a way. They wouldn't want people walking away from the Kindle for Apple or B&N because everyone remembers "if your account gets hacked you're SOL" which would completely undermine their Kindle and promises about the cloud. Heck people STILL talk about "they will take your books away" because of those illegal copies that got sold and then yanked (and refunded). People don't remember that the books were illegal, or that people got their money refunded, or that they got an apology and a gift card for the bungling. They just remember "Amazon will yank your books."


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## LaraAmber (Feb 24, 2009)

In fact I just wrote Kindle Feedback about this issue saying that they need to address what happens when accounts get hacked BEFORE it blows up in their face.


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## Labrynth (Dec 31, 2009)

I'm not entirely sure that saving the books via calibre or some other software will work.  The books are set for a specific Kindle, but are they set for a specific account as well?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Labrynth said:


> I'm not entirely sure that saving the books via calibre or some other software will work. The books are set for a specific Kindle, but are they set for a specific account as well?


They're for a specific Kindle. They'll work on that Kindle even if it's registered to a different account.

But they wouldn't work on any other Kindle you ever got.


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

And, as much as people hate my typing this, there are ways around that. There are other sites that kind of discuss how but we don't here.


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## Dragle (Dec 10, 2011)

This is very disturbing, and reinforces my inclination not to invest much money in ebooks.  Cansomeone fill me in on what happens in the case of epubs, whether from B&N or other source? If that type of account is hacked, would you be able to still use your purchased books?


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

I have not heard much about this. My guess is that they do the same thing as Amazon. I have read that there are people who got frustrated with Barnes and Noble and asked them to close their account. BN did just that and the people lost access to their books. Which makes me think that they will handle it the same way Amazon did.

In some ways this is no different then if you buy a computer and your house is robbed. Dell is not going to replace your computer for you. It is not really a great analogy because Amazon does have your purchase history and should be able to make good on those books in your new account. Dell would actually have to provide you with a new computer and that costs money. It could be that Amazons TOS with the Publishers requires them pay for those books and Amazon does not want to eat those losses, I have no clue.


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## CrystalStarr (Jan 17, 2011)

Except Dell doesn't provide the security to keep my home safe. I do. Or at least my alarm company does. And we have insurance which would give us the money to replace the computer.  And I have a backup program so I wouldn't loose even the slightest thing on my computer. 

Its up to Amazon to protect their system from hackers. Not me!  

I am a big Amazon customer and I've brought many customers to them. If this happened to me my kindles would be sold and I be off to another company.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

QuantumIguana said:


> I wish we could do something more advanced than passwords. *People have so many passwords to remember*, that they keep them too simple, or use the same password at multiple sites. Electronic cards would be better.


Remember? I have a 3X5 card file of passwords and other info needed for sites on which I've registered.


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

I am confused.....and concerned. I have mNy ebooks in my Kindle library on the Amazon site. I started with a K2, then a K3, and now a Fire. The K3 and Fire are both registered to my account. I have no trouble downloading my e-books to one or both of my Kindles. How do I back up my ebooks?


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

Go to Manage My Kindle

You will see your Kindle Library. Next to each book there is a button that says action

Choose "Download and transfer by USB"

Choose which device you want it for

Hit download.

ETA: Thanks, it has been a while since I backed up my books. They are all on my hard drive and are being moved into Calibre as I type.


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

If I transfer via USB to my laptop, where do they go? Won't it use up an awful lot of space on my laptop?

Do I have to transfer one book at a time? That could take a very long time.


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

I have a folder labeled "downloads" that my ebooks go to. I can move them to my folder labeled books if I want. They don't take up that much space.

I am sure there is a way to move them in a bunch but I don't know how. I know that there are folks at Mobile Read who have left instructions on how to move books off your device but I have never tried that. It took me about 5 minutes to move three pages of books this evening so it is not that bad.

I save mine once every three months. I just don't buy  a ton of books so I don't feel the need to back up all that regularly.  You could do your in batches when watching TV or a movie or something.


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## KingAl (Feb 21, 2011)

ProfCrash said:


> Nope. THis is why you should save your Kindle books to your computer just in case. Amazon does not move books from one account to another in the acse of an account being hacked. If you have the books saved on your computer (and backed up someplace else as well) you at least have the books available to you. If they are registered to a specific Kindle you should be fine. If they are not you have options. Maybe not the most savory of options and not options that are discussed at this site but options none the less.
> 
> Personally, I believe that Amazon is acting in bad faith by not transfering ebooks, videos, and music that the account holder has bought. They know when the hacking happened, they should be able to move anything that was purchased before that date to a new account.


I would surmise that the terms of their contract with the publishers prohibit transferring books. Why else would Amazon (in similar cases) give the customer a credit equal to the purchase price of all their books?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

Not all customers have reported to getting the credit. Some have just been told that they can no longer access those books.


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## Dragle (Dec 10, 2011)

ProfCrash said:


> Go to Manage My Kindle
> 
> You will see your Kindle Library. Next to each book there is a button that says action
> 
> ...


So it sounds like, if you have two kindles, you would want to download each book twice, once for each Kindle, since each download will only work on the particular one you choose at the time of download.


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## CrystalStarr (Jan 17, 2011)

So those of you with thousands of books do this each and every time you get a bee kindle?  This sounds horrible!


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

Dragle said:


> So it sounds like, if you have two kindles, you would want to download each book twice, once for each Kindle, since each download will only work on the particular one you choose at the time of download.


I have three Kindles, technically four if you count my Moms. I download the book once. I have no qualms with making sure that the books that I buy can be read on any device if need be. That is my personal choice and one that not everyone agrees with.

My suggestions, download one copy as a precaution. Make your decision about what you want to do with them if you have to at some point in the future. Otherwise, be happy that you have a copy for safe keeping and know that you have taken a step to protect your reading investment.


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## Dragle (Dec 10, 2011)

ProfCrash said:


> My suggestions, download one copy as a precaution. Make your decision about what you want to do with them if you have to at some point in the future. Otherwise, be happy that you have a copy for safe keeping and know that you have taken a step to protect your reading investment.


Sounds reasonable!


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## KingAl (Feb 21, 2011)

ProfCrash said:


> Not all customers have reported to getting the credit. Some have just been told that they can no longer access those books.


Hmm... Sounds like Amazon needs to do a better job of training their CS reps.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

You shouldn't have to switch accounts from a hacking I wouldn't think.  You should just be able to put a new, much stronger password on their (may have to have Amazon reset it if the hacker changed the password) and have them refund any fraudulent charges (and/or dispute them with your credit card company).


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

But you do. Amazon locks the account and you no longer have access to it.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

ProfCrash said:


> But you do. Amazon locks the account and you no longer have access to it.


Ah, that's lame of them then. Other accounts I've had that have gotten hacked just get locked while they're investigating them and then they return them to you once they've completed the investigation.

Currently waiting out such a situation with my Xbox Live account. It's taking a long time as the hacker migrated the account to Russia. So it's been locked since October. But I will get it back eventually. There's been a rash of hackings on there, and it seems it's a 4-6 month going rate for those who got their accounts transferred international due to some international law issues with getting software licenses transferred back etc.

If Amazon isn't going to give the account back, then they need to have a simple process to transfer all digital content to your new account.


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## JayPosey (Jan 16, 2012)

Hi all,

Just wanted to update ... Amazon finally got everything taken care of, sort of.  As others have mentioned, their answer was to have my wife open a new account, and then they sent her an email with a text list of every title she had on her Kindle.  They also credited her with money to cover the re-purchase of all the titles.  In the end, she's got it all back under control, but it was a pretty serious hassle to get it taken care of.  I'm still really surprised at how lax the security was on Amazon (they stopped the initial purchase of multiple gift cards with the account because of "suspicious activity" ... and then sent an email to the address listed on the account asking if the charges were valid!  Surprise, the hacker just replied with yes.) and at how broken the process was to get it fixed.  One of the customer service reps said it happens "so rarely" they "didn't have a process in place to handle it".

Anyway, it got sorted out finally, and we still love all our Kindles!  And any indie authors out there with books that my wife purchased just got an extra sale, so hooray!

Cheers,
Jay P.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

JayPosey said:


> I'm still really surprised at how lax the security was on Amazon (they stopped the initial purchase of multiple gift cards with the account because of "suspicious activity" ... and then sent an email to the address listed on the account asking if the charges were valid!


So the hackers also hacked your email account or they change the email address on the account? If she was using the same password for both, I hope she has stopped that practice.

That was the same process that my bank used when my debit card got skimmed. I finally received a text only because I had enabled that feature but the email came first. I'm not sure I would expect Amazon's process to be much different.

Glad you got it straightened out and a credit for the books.


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## tamaraheiner (Apr 23, 2011)

So glad that worked out for you. It did make me feel like I shouldn't put a lot of money into books for my Kindle, so I feel better about buying books now.


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