‘Our baby monitor was hacked … It was moving right in front of me’

“I could see it moving and heard a muffled sound coming from it. I told my partner, ‘Our camera has been hacked’.”

When Jazmyn and her partner, Gideon, left their four-year-old staffy, Klaus, home alone, they were reassured they could still keep a close eye on him.

In 2020, Jazmyn purchased a Mirabella Bebe Genio WiFi Full HD Pan and Tilt Baby Camera from Kmart, and for almost four years, it worked just as she expected.

“It would notify me through the app if he was barking (using the alert for a baby’s cry) and I could talk to Klaus through it and remotely move it around,” the 29-year-old from Sydney tells Kidspot.

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Due to it being connected to the home’s WiFi, Jazmyn says it was far more convenient to leave the camera on around the clock, rather than disconnect and reconnect it each time Klaus was left at home.

“It sat next to the TV on the entertainment unit in the living room, so it would face us when we were on the couch,” she says.

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Jazmyn and her partner Gideon bought the monitor to keep an eye on their new puppy, Klaus. Picture: Supplied

"Oh my God, I think our camera has been hacked"

In March this year, Jazmyn noticed something she had never heard before from the camera.

“I was in my office next to the living room and heard beeping sounds every now and then, which I thought at the time was the camera reconnecting itself to the WiFi,” she recalls.

“Then I heard the camera actually moving after the connection sounds, and then it sounded like a microphone had been turned on with muffled sounds. That happened about 10 times in an hour and I would check the app and see the camera’s position moving.”

Knowing she was the only person in the household who had access to moving the camera’s position, the strange occurrence “completely freaked out” Jazmyn.  

“The camera made an ‘L’ shape and it had never done that before so I went to turn it off, and that’s when I noticed the red recording light was on - which I also never did when I was home,” she says chillingly. 

“I immediately messaged Gideon saying, ‘Oh my God, I think our camera has been hacked’.”

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Jazmyn with her now four-year-old staffy Klaus. Picture: Supplied

"I never thought it was possible for a baby camera"

When she attempted to observe the camera again later on, Jazmyn was shocked to find it didn’t even turn back on from various power points.

“I didn’t even bother taking it back since we’d had it so long, so it went in the bin.”

The experience was a rude awakening for Jazmyn, who never imagined her own camera could be manipulated in this way.

“I’ve heard of other front door cameras getting hacked, but I never thought it was possible for a baby camera,” she says.

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“I never thought we needed to put any extra security on the WiFi for it. I changed our WiFI password and reset our whole system after that. Because we live in an apartment with big windows, I like to think that I was always cautious with what I was wearing, and now I hope I was, because it was watching us the whole time. 

The couple replaced the Mirabella device with a Furbo pet camera, which also operates through a WiFi network, but they turn it off whenever an adult is inside the home.

“I can turn it on and off when I’m already out, so that makes it more convenient,” Jazmyn says.

“It knows when he’s chewing, barking, crying and eating, it’s worked out well.”

RELATED: 'I froze when my 10-day-old made high pitch scream I had never heard before'

Jazmyn left the monitor pointing in this direction as a test. Picture: Supplied

At a later check, she noticed the camera had moved. Picture: Supplied

"I'm going old school, walkie-talkie style"

Jazmyn, who is hoping to start a family in the next year, is adamant she won’t be purchasing any WiFi-based camera to keep an eye on her future baby.

“I’m going old school, walkie-talkie style without any apps or cameras,” she says.

“I don’t know what I would do if I found out if someone was watching my baby. I’m not taking that chance.”

Kidspot has contacted Kmart but it did not respond at the time of publication. 

Originally published as ‘Our baby monitor was hacked … It was moving right in front of me’