On May 21, 2023, my Amazon® Account was hacked. The hackers changed my email and password, and placed a 2-step authentication on my account. First, I was confused by what number to call to get my account restored because there are so many fraudulent numbers on the Internet. @AmazonHelp was absolutely no help, just sending me in a circle back to the Amazon® website. And after a while, I was not even sure that the numbers on the Amazon® website were legitimate either. I even overnighted a letter to Amazon® in Washington state; it was ignored. Finally, after a friend suggested it, I signed on to my credit card account that I used for Amazon® purchases and found an Amazon® number on there each time I purchased from Amazon®. The number I called was: 800-201-7575. It is a legitimate Amazon® number, and so is 800-383-9484, as well as 206-922-0880 and 800-388-5512. Some numbers on the Internet are not. Also, Amazon® does receive emails at cs-reply@amazon.com even though you will get a “bounce-back” email, but it does get through. I was able to send my state ID (black out everything but your picture and name, so if anyone asks you for more than that, they may be a scammer). Also, find an order number on an old Amazon® email (where Amazon® alerts you by email that your order is arriving) to help Amazon® find your account. Ultimately, I concluded that the best Amazon® is 800-201-7575.

Amazon® kept telling me that in “48 hours”, “6 hours”, “7 days” or “immediately”, an “account specialist” would reach out to me. NEVER did that occur. In fact, an Amazon® representative told me that Amazon® was communicating with the hacker, thinking that was my email! Another Amazon® representative said that was not true…

Different Amazon® representatives told me that I will never get my account back because the hackers put a 2-step authentication on my account, and other Amazon® representatives did little to help me. You have to be persistent and insistent to get your account back up. Even though Amazon® representatives may tell you that they cannot speak directly to Amazon® account specialists, they can. Finally, when Amazon® confirms that the account is yours, it takes a few seconds for Amazon® representatives to put your correct email address back on your account and send the link to get you back online after you have provided the information and state ID as mentioned above.

From May 21 to June 4, 2023, Amazon® never called or emailed me or did anything to get my account restored. I was stunned because not only had I been a customer for well over a decade, but I had audio books I could not access, warranties for major purchases on Amazon®, all my father’s medical supplies were subscriptions on Amazon®, I could not access Prime Streaming, I was not able to get my grocery discounts from Whole Foods® because my phone number was no longer recognizable, and I could not order my nephew’s hydration powder on which my father relies daily. I threw that in, but it is absolutely true.

Before you go any further, make sure you secure your email that Amazon® will use to restore your account. I downloaded the “Authenticator” app (to make my email PW-free) and from there I could see how often and from where (seemed to be all over the world) the hackers were still trying to hack my email again. Also, the hackers seemed to know that I was working with Amazon® on my account on June 2, and while I was on the phone with Amazon®, the hackers spam bombed me for about 2-3 hours, bombarding me with spam. I deleted and/or designated the emails as spam. Apparently, the hackers want you to press the link on one of the spam emails to gain access to your email account. Eventually, the hackers seemed to get tired, and the spam bombing slowed to about 2-3 every hour or two. Stay alert!

I was desperate to get my account back. I said a small prayer the morning of June 4, and called 800-201-7575. The Amazon® representative tried to do the same thing and tell me an account specialist would call me back. I was insistent, then she transferred me to “a supervisor,” who had not one care about whether my account was restored. She finally hung up on me. I immediately called back and got an angel. She immediately sent a link to my proper email to restore my account, then she connected me to an account specialist (which the Amazon® representatives said they could never do), and he immediately helped me as well. BUT DON’T HANG UP UNTIL YOU TRY THE LINK!

I should have stayed on the phone and tried the link because I was able to use my email and get the one-time password (OTP), but was locked out after 3 security tries when they asked for the date on my credit card that was on my Amazon account. The date on my card was not accepted by Amazon® because it seems the hackers changed the date on the card. The card was also canceled because the hackers tried to use it to order UberEats® several days before. So, I had to call Amazon® back — this time I used the 800-383-9484, which is the one on the Amazon® website if you are locked out of your account, which was always an available number, but I had to be convinced it was not a hacker’s number because I had called some fraudulent numbers that are on the Internet. I waited a few hours before I called Amazon® back. An Amazon® representative then sent an email to my proper email, but to confirm my identity, I also had to answer a security test, asking three specific questions about my account, but the questions were so peculiar to remember about my account (I don’t want to share many details to avoid giving hackers any ammunition) that I failed the security test! I was devastated. However, the Amazon® representative was awesome and sent me a link from cs-reply@amazon.com and said to call back in 24 hours at 888-280-4331 for the account change department.

In that 24 hours, I prepared to answer questions about my account by reviewing the credit cards I used on the account to try to remember particular details about my account. Also, keep the canceled credits cards on the account because you may need that for security questions as well. Amazon® never called within 24 hours.

However, I received an unusual Amazon® email on the morning of June 5, asking me to complete a survey from the call with the Amazon® representative I made that morning. I had not yet called Amazon®, so it was not me! I immediately called Amazon® and was able to speak with an amazing Amazon® representative. This time, I was ready and passed the security test. Fortunately, one of the credit cards (that I had already cut up and thrown away) was still on my account with the proper details, and I knew the key details by memory. The Amazon® representative asked me several other questions to make sure the account was mine, but I passed those from studying my credit card receipts and emails from Amazon® about my deliveries for my items in the last three months. Now this is unbelievable, BUT… while I was on the phone with the Amazon® representative, the hackers were able to put their email back on my account! I guess this was from the earlier call the hackers had with Amazon®. The Amazon® representative who I was speaking with saw the change! She was stunned as well. However, all she could do was to refer my case to the fraud department for them to look at my account and make changes or call me back within 24 hours. I learned that when the Amazon® representative says he/she will refer you to the Amazon® fraud department that something good will happen with your account.

In the meantime, I went to the Amazon® email, asking me to fill out a survey and indicated on the survey that the Amazon® representative let the hackers re-access my Amazon® account! My rating was very poor because I was hoping to get the attention of the Amazon® representative’s supervisor.

However, I was still not sure how the hackers got hold of my Hotmail account again, but I had put a password back on my account (still using the Authenticator app), so perhaps that was the reason. The hackers also did something so that the links that the Amazon® representative sent me no longer reached me — because they had some control of my account But thankfully, the Amazon® representative locked my account before referring me to the Amazon® fraud department. I do believe that Amazon® representatives cannot directly talk with Amazon® fraud department. To try to take my email account back over, I downloaded the Norton® Anti-Virus software ($19.99 a year), and it found that Infostealer malware was on my computer, then removed it! I took the password option off my email again with Authenticator and was ready for whenever I obtained control of my Amazon® account again.

By nature of my job, I had the time to fight back and make these repeated calls. I called 800-201-7575. I heard again from another Amazon® representative that I could not get my account back because there was a 2-step authentication put on the account, so I just hung up and called back, hoping to speak with a better skilled Amazon® representative — I did. I understand only the Amazon® fraud department can remove a hacker’s 2-step authentication. This seems to be accurate. But, my account still had to go to Amazon® fraud department — the Amazon® representative said it would be expedited, and that an Amazon® representative would email or call me back. I was exhausted and leery of this, but I had no choice but to wait.

On the morning of June 6 at 1:50am (EST), I received an email from no-reply @amazon.com!!!! I knew Amazon® was on it because it indicated that “an unauthorized party may have re-accessed [my] account” (emphasis added). Yes, my account was hacked again by the same hacker (same email address). The Amazon® email indicated all Amazon® had done to secure my account — disabled the password on the account; reversed any modifications made by the unauthorized party; canceled pending orders; restored balances on any gift cards; and disabled the 2-step verification on my account! Then, the Amazon® email requested 2 hours for the changes to take place. The Amazon® then instructed me to call: 800-388-5512 in the U.S.; 877-345-3364 in Canada; and 206-577-1205 for international customers. The Amazon® email also said to “ask to be transferred to the Account Change department for help.”

At 5:09am, I called 800-388-5512. The Amazon® representative was amazing, skillful and compassionate! I answered some security questions again to ensure I was the owner of the account. He stayed on the line with me for 26 minutes until he was sure I was back in my account! He was so apologetic and kind. I was so grateful. I am back in my account. I added the 2-step verification. I reviewed the account for any changes and re-added my payment methods.

I hope this helps someone. For about two weeks, I felt so deserted by Amazon® after being a loyal customer for over a decade. Getting a patient, compassionate and skilled Amazon® representative is so important. If yours is not like that, just hang up and call again. I also never realized how much my life was interconnected and dependent upon Amazon®. I intend to be more mindful of all that I do with Amazon® in the future, so that if this ever happens again, I will be ok just starting a new account. 

Be cautious of fake Amazon® emails. Real ones are: account-update@amazon.com, no-reply@amazon.com, nobody@bounces.amazon.com (when you send emails to certain amazon accounts), and cs-reply@amazon.com, but there is one the hackers sent that I deleted that had “customer-reply” in the email and it was a fake account.

I am so invested in getting this information out that I actually purchased this website page for a year ($192). I hope Amazon® does not ask me to take it down; I hope this page does not empower hackers; and I hope this page helps someone whose account was hacked. I believe it includes everything I wanted to know when the hacking happened to me.

Thanks for visiting this page. :-)