Amazon has become the largest e-commerce company in the world. Having started as a simple online bookstore, it quickly transformed into the powerhouse of electronics, household and countless other items that it is today.
It has a base of over hundred million Amazon Prime members in just the United States, it’s the most popular online resource for purchasing things, home entertainment, and other home-based solutions.
Amazon Prime is probably the company’s most innovative addition to online retail. It successfully puts together the benefits of video streaming, free ebooks and audiobooks, and unlimited 2-day shipping.
It's the access to these benefits which alone makes Amazon Prime accounts an attractive target for unauthorized guests, thieves and familial freeloaders alike. That's what makes it such a lucrative source of prospective victims for the hackers.
Get rid of the intruders
First of all, we’ll need to start things off with a password change in order to immediately remove anyone currently having an unauthorized go through your account. We’ll be sorting out some things with your account moving forward so stick with this article and follow along.
Change Your Password
First thing you will need to do to regain control of your account is to change your password. If you are still have an access to your Amazon account:
- Log in with your current login and password, place your cursorover the “Account & Lists” menu to get a drop-down list.
- Click on "Your Account".
- Click on the "Login and security" tab on your Amazon Homepage.
- Look for the fourth row called “Password” and click on the Edit button to it's right.
- Enter your current password and type in a new one into the appropriate field.
Try to create your new password to be more complex and hard to guess than the old one. Consider adding both capital and lowercase letters, digits, or even some symbols to make it tougher for hackers to crack.
Do not use full words, any personal information, or familiar phrases. The hacker's algorithms will easily decipher anything typical or fully available in a dictionary. If they won't be able crack your password fast enough, they will just move on to an easier target.
Do not use any words and numbers that are commonly known, such as birth dates, addresses, anniversary dates, relatives or pets names, etc. In the end, re enter your new password into the text box, and then click on the Save changes button to complete the process.
Make sure that all of Your Account Information is Accurate
Another thing that attackers are typically doing is changing up some of your account information to make it harder for you to retrieve it. On the same Login and Security page, make sure that all of the information in the “Name”, “Email”, and “Mobile Number” rows is correct.
Verifying that this will ensure getting any
alerts or updates. It would also be a good idea to remove any addresses or
other information that does not belong to you. Doing so will make it easier to
detect any changes in information when you log in again.
After everything seems to be correct, and no hackers information is left, we can move on to the next step. If anything is still showing incorrectly, hit the Edit button to the right of the box and correct it accordingly. The correct “Mobile Number” row will be especially important to our next step.
Setting Up the Two-Factor Authentication
Look at the final row on the Login and Security page, which is your “Advanced Security Settings”. After you click the Edit button for this row, you will see a new page where you will be able to set up the Two-Factor Authentication for your Amazon account.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is a second wall of protection, which you will create by adding another passcode for entry into your account. Passwords are often stolen and this second layer of protection will ensure that your Amazon account remains secure.
On the “Advanced Security Settings” page click the Get Started button to proceed.
First of all you will have to select how you want to receive the 2FA passcode. You have three options to choose from, which are an automated phone call, a SMS Text Message, or an Authorization App like Google Authenticator.
You will have to put your phone number in if you choose either of the first two options.
Simply choose your international code from the drop-down menu and type your phone number into the text box, then finish the process by entering the code they send you.
If you prefer to use the Authenticator app option, you will need to launch the authenticator app of your choice on your smartphone, add your account, and then scan the qr code on the screen with your camera.
Once it is scanned, you will get a new code on your authenticator app for your account. Enter this code into the text box on the Amazon site and then hit Verify OTP and continue, in the time given before the code’s expiration. If the code expires before you are able to add it in, just add the next one you'll get.
After the first step, you’ll be able to add an extra security measure by creating a backup method. This method will be one of those you didn’t choose during the initial step. You also have an option to not require this step at all.
The third and final step doesn't require anything from you and is more of a “heads up”. The site will let you know that some devices are unable to display a second screen in order for you to enter your 2FA passcode. It will provide an instruction on what to do in this case. You are also able to set it to not require a Two-Factor Authentication for the current device and browser being used.
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