kids

"This is a terrible nightmare." Mum discovers stranger hacked baby monitor for sick reason.

An American mum has shared a terrifying experience after her baby monitor was hacked by a stranger, and some of her most private moments breastfeeding her son were intruded on.

In a post on Facebook that has since been liked 1000 times and shared more than 2000 times, Jamie Summitt encouraged parents to be vigilant about their baby monitors.

“If you have this baby monitor do yourself a favour and unplug it and throw it away RIGHT now. Here’s a little background on the monitor and app that is used in conjunction with it.”

Summitt went on to write she ordered the monitor off Amazon after realising she could access the video feed from her phone when connected to WiFi. She also noted how she was attracted by the fact you could also have “multiple people download the app so they could watch”.

“The camera itself is able to be turned 360 degrees and can be moved remotely from the app simply by dragging your finger across your phone screen.

“This afternoon I had the app pulled up and was watching Noah sleep in the bassinet in our room. I was in the living room with the only two people who had access (or so I thought) to the monitor. All of a sudden I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the camera was moving…and it was panning over to our bed. The exact spot that I breastfeed my son every day. Once the person watching realised I was not in bed, he panned back over to Noah asleep in his bassinet.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Summitt said her heart “immediately sank into [her] stomach”.

“I realised that this morning the camera was facing our bed when I had last left it facing away from our bed and over at Noah in his bassinet. Occasionally Kevin would check in on us while at work to see how the baby was sleeping. I assumed this was the case but Kevin informed me he had not accessed the app all day.

“I feel so violated. This person has watched me day in and day out in the most personal and intimate moments between my son and I. I am supposed to be my sons protector and have failed miserably. I honestly don’t ever want to go back into my own bedroom.”

The family said nothing could be done when they contacted police, and were locked out of the system when they believe the ‘hacker’ overheard their conversation.

“I honestly feel like this is a terrible nightmare.

“No one ever warned us about these WiFi monitors and I truly had no idea that this could ever happen.”

Summitt said they have changed all their passwords and “upped” their WiFi security, but have encouraged all parents to be vigilant to avoid the “complete nightmare” they have been embroiled in.

00:00 / ???