A Seattle family was rattled after a hacker managed to take control of their wireless baby monitor and use it to talk to their three-year-old daughter. The family, who asked only to be identified by their first names, told the disturbing story to KING-TV.
"We were both downstairs working in our office here, and our daughter called out," the girl's mother, Jo, told the news station. "She's saying, 'Mommy, mommy.' She said the voice is talking to me."
When Jo and her husband, John, went upstairs, their daughter told them a man spoke to her through the camera.
“She said the 'voice is talking to me,'” Jo recalled. “I said, 'the voice is talking to you, what’s going on?' And she said the man said, ‘Jayden, I love you.’ And I said, 'what?'"
They immediately unplugged the camera and contacted both the police and the FBI.
“I instantly wanted to throw up, my heart was in my throat,” Jo said. “Someone was in our daughter's room, basically watched her, and I don’t know what all they saw, what they got from that. Is it the fear alone they’re enjoying? It’s just so unsettling to not know.”
The couple received the camera, which is a Fredi Taococo model made by Shenzhen Jinbaixun Technology Co., Ltd. as a baby shower gift. The $50 camera is relatively easy to hack, according to a report by the Mozilla Foundation.
The family wants to warn other parents who might think about purchasing the cheap camera online.
“Here’s a $50 camera that has glowing reviews, because it’s a good camera and an affordable option,” Jo said. “Like, how many families are going to get this camera that’s not secure? And that’s just really upsetting. How could this happen to anyone?"