Hacked Baby Monitor Scares Family With Creepy Messages

A stranger reportedly hacked into the baby monitor of a family in Washington to deliver a creepy message to the couple’s three-year-old son.

“Wake up little boy, daddy’s looking for you.”

According to CBS New York, this was apparently not the first time that the stranger communicated through the hacked baby monitor. The report claims that the young boy tried to tell his parents about the voice in the past, but they did not believe him. They just felt that their child was making it up and based his story on an overactive imagination.

However, the couple heard the stranger’s “wake up” message with their own ears one night and were absolutely horrified by it.

Even though the parents want to remain anonymous, the child’s mother opened up about her honest reaction after hearing the stranger’s voice.

“Well, I started to cry in there, because it all started coming back to me, and I started figuring things out.”

Their fears and overall discomfort only intensified in the moments after they heard the stranger’s message – especially after they realized that the stranger successfully hacked into the baby monitor’s integrated camera and could see them.

The boy’s father stated that the stranger’s additional comments likely prove that he was essentially spying on them through the camera.

“My wife walked in and I heard the exact words, ‘Look someone’s coming, or someone’s coming into view.'”

The stranger was even able to reportedly control the camera remotely, according to Daily Mail.

After contacting the store from which they purchased the baby monitor (Foscam), the couple were informed that it was possible for someone to access and control their device remotely. However, the company admitted that they would not be able to track and find the hacker.

Lance Ulanoff, the chief correspondent for Mashable, advised parents to frequently change the passwords to their devices in order to make it harder for cyber criminals to hack into them.

According to Yahoo! Finance, 90 percent of passwords are vulnerable to hacking – which is why the use of strong passwords is highly recommended.

“It’s basically like they’re standing next to you in your house… If somebody else has your login information, they can go to that same app, and log into your webcam, which is what happened here.”

Unfortunately, baby monitors are not the only devices that are targeted by cyber criminals within the home. Any device with an integrated camera (including a home security system, surveillance camera or PC webcam) can also be accessed remotely as well.

[Image Credit: Dollar Photo Club]