The irony of hacking systems that make us feel safe
I visited friends for dinner last week. We enjoyed a nice evening with fun conversation, just the three of us. Then a voice from the kitchen rudely interrupted. We first thought it was just Alexa spying on us.
It wasn’t.
It was an actual hacker really spying on us through the security cameras installed on the property. It was clear from what he said he could hear and see our every move.
He first made his presence known by hollering “Hello, Hello, Hello … can you hear me?”
At that point we were in another room, so he started demanding we come into the kitchen, the location of the camera he was spying on us from.
When we went into the kitchen, he told us he was nearby and that he was coming to get us. Then we heard the chimes from the security system alerting us to someone at the front door. We cautiously peered outside to see whether someone was on the front porch, but we saw nothing. He knew we were looking out the front window because he said he could see us. This exchange went on for several minutes with increasing threats and bad language.
We turned the camera off.
A few minutes later, we turned it back on, but it didn’t reset. The hacker was still there — and angry with us for turning the camera off. He reiterated he was nearby and watching through the front window.
We set up a digital recorder to capture what the hacker was saying so we could make sure it wasn’t our imaginations. He keep hollering at us. It was clear he could hear what we were saying.
He heard us talking about calling the police and said, “Don’t you dare call the cops or you’ll be sorry.” The door chimes continued to ring.
We called the police; they came to investigate. We played the audio for the officer, who conceded it was creepy. The officer took a look around and found no prowler, but it nevertheless shook us up to think we were being spied on inside my friend’s home.
The evening concluded early so the officer could escort me back to my house just in case the hacker really was a danger. I’m happy to report the evening ended without further incident. That said, the incident left us feeling uneasy. The whole point of the security system, after all, is to make people feel safe.
A call to Nest indicated that the system wasn’t hacked on the company’s end. That narrowed it down to a security flaw closer to home, so my friends changed the system password, which is probably how the hacker gained access. As a precaution, use a password easy for you to remember but hard for a hacker to guess.
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Consider the source with online reviews
A good way to decide if a product is worth buying is to check out online reviews. But according to a recent Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, Sunday Riley Modern Skincare decided to fake a bunch of online reviews of its products. The skincare line is sold through Sephora and other retail chains.
The lawsuit alleges that Sunday Riley, the CEO, along with other company managers, created Sephora.com accounts and posed as customers in order to write positive reviews for their own products. Managers enticed other company employees to join in writing and posting positive reviews.
After learning the reviews were fake, Sephora took down the phony reviews connected to Sunday Riley’s IP address, a sort of internet location technology. This action prompted Sunday Riley and her staff to use a virtual private network to mask their identities — and the fake reviews kept coming
In the settlement, the FRC noted the company would be subject to civil penalties if it engages in similar deceptive conduct in the future. The next time you plan to purchase a product based on online review, consider the source to make sure it’s coming from trusted organizations — or at least a real person with something legitimate to say about the product — and compare online reviews from several sources. You also might consider checking out trusted sites that specialize in reviewing products with expert reviews and comparisons.
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No real ‘Hope’ in this phone call
A Coeur d’Alene reader called to let us know that the scammers are alive and well and apparently continuing to thrive by targeting seniors on Medicare. He and his wife have received dozens of calls lately from Hope, Idaho, from 208-264-4484. Typically, if you ignore the calls they will stop. This scammer, though, was persistent: The calls increased to all hours of the day and night.
Fed up, our reader answered. As expected, a robocall message stated he was in danger of losing his benefits for knee or back braces. At the end of the message, he was given an option to press 9 to be taken off the list. It didn’t work; the calls continued to come. Then he pressed 1 to speak with a live person.
The person who answer stated he was with Senior Medical Services in West Palm Beach, Fla. Our reader’s efforts to have his name removed from the list was met with a curt no. If you get a call from this number, block the call. Don’t bother pressing 9 or 1 — it won’t help.
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If you have encountered a consumer issue that you have questions about or think our readers should know about, please send me an email at terridickersonadvocate@gmail.com or call me at 208-274-4458.