After purchasing a Ring camera, the LeMay family seemed to love the security of home surveillance. They slept easier at night knowing they could keep an eye on their house and children if there was ever a problem. Unfortunately, someone else was watching them, too...
Four Young Sisters
Ashley LeMay and her husband Joe were raising four young girls when they decided they needed to update the security on their home. There had been a few robberies in their neighborhood, and Ashley and Joe didn't want to take any risks when it came to the safety of their daughters...
A House Full of Fun
Ashley kept her house fun at all times. The girls did nearly everything together and were involved in lots of sports and activities both in and out of school. Their house was the one friends always wanted to visit. Ashley was proud of the fun and loving family she'd created...
Sick Daughter
Unfortunately, one of the girls had been diagnosed with epilepsy. Four-year-old Lucy struggled with occassional seizures, and though it wasn't a life-threatening illness, it was definitely enough to make Ashley worry about ever leaving her alone...
Medical Researcher
Ashley was familiar with the difficulties of epilepsy. Her sister had been diagnosed with the same illness when they were kids. Now, Ashley worked as a medical researcher, and she knew she needed to find a solution to this issue that affected so many people...
A Temporary Fix
Though it wasn't necessarily a medical advancement, Ashley decided to buy a Ring camera during a Back Friday sale. She figured it would solve two problems at once. It would keep their home safe from robberies, and she could have an eye on her epileptic daughter...
Instant Relief
When Ashley installed the camera, she immediately gained some peace of mind. She felt like her home was safe when she wasn't there, and she'd installed a second camera in Lucy's room so she could keep an eye on her while she napped. So far, everything seemed great...
Strange Noises
After owning the Ring camera for a few weeks, Ashley started to notice something strange. When she watched Lucy sleep, she heard weird noises and music coming from the bedroom, but she couldn't figure out the source...
"Hello There"
Lucy woke up fom her nap to a strange man's voice coming from her bedroom. At first she thought it was her dad playing a joke on her, but then she realized he was nowhere to be seen. The ominious voice said, "hello there." Lucy was frozen with fear...
Where Was He Hiding?
Lucy got up and started to search her room. The voice hadn't spoken again, but surely the intruder must have been hiding somewhere. She checked under her bed, in the closet, and behind the curtains, but she was all alone...
The Voice Was Angry
Once the man realized Lucy was looking for her, he started shouting. Lucy was terrified. At this point, Ashely ran into the room, having heard all of the noise. When she realized the terrifying threats the voice was making, she was afraid for her daughter's safety. "I'm going to get you! I'm going to get you!" he yelled.
Ashley Realized What Was Happening
Suddenly, Ashley realized the noise was coming from the Ring camera. He was watching Lucy this whole time. The camera must have been hacked somehow, and when the man realized she'd figured it out, he only started shouting louder. "You can't hide! I'm always watching! I'm going to get you!" he shouted over and over.
Straight Out Of a Horror Movie
Ashely was terrified, and Lucy couldn't stop crying. They couldn't figure out how to shut the camera off, and the voice just kept shouting and taunting them. It was threatening to hurt them. Ashely was ready to call the police...
A Cruel Joke
The voice kept shouting, and even started singing to Ashley and Lucy. Ashely started dialing the police, but she realized how ridiculous the situation sounded before she spoke. There was nobody in their home. All she had to do was unplug the camera...
I Wouldn't Do That If I Were You
The voice on the other end of the camera saw Ashley move towards the power switch, and he began to speak again. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'm your best friend. I'm Santa Claus," he said in an eerie tone. Ashley was horrified. How long had he been watching her daughter and tricking her into thinking she was talking to Santa Claus?
Another Strange Phone Call
Just as Ashely was about to dial the police, her phone rang. It was her husband, Joe, who was at work. He said he was getting strange alerts from the Ring camera app. Ashley quickly explained what was going on, and he said he would come home immediately...
Is This a Joke?
Joe asked Ashley if she had anything to do with the voice, just in case this was all a joke. She was furious at him for even assuming. She worried she and her kids were in danger!
Speeding Home
Ashley told him to listen to the video feed with sound for proof that this wasn't a joke. He listened closely and heard the strange voice. He hit the gas. He wasn't sure if his family was in immediate danger or not...
Traumatized For Years
Ashley and Lucy left the bedroom and shut the door behind them. They stood in the kitchen and looked out the windows until she could see Joe pull into the driveway. She was worried Lucy would be traumatized by this, but she still hadn't called the police. She wasn't sure if it was necessary or not...
Waiting In Fear
Even from the kitchen, they could all still hear the voice on the camera. Joe quickly searched the house and determined that they were alone, and then quickly shut off the camera. He unplugged it from the wall and taped over the lens just to be safe...
How Long Had This Been Going On?
Ashley was scared thinking about how long the hacker had possibly been watching her daughter. They had no answers. They had no idea who or where he was, or what he wanted from the family...
Calling Ring Headquarters
Ashley called Ring immediately once they determined their home was safe. How had the hacker gained access to their camera? How was it possible when Ring promised such a secure device? She was furious and afraid...
Didn't Seem Urgent
Ring determined that there had been unusual activity on Ashley's account, and had emailed her about it weeks earlier. But they'd only informed her one time, and it wasn't an urgent email, so she must have overlooked it. She didn't remember receiving it at all. She was furious at Ring for not taking this more seriously...
Finally An Answer
After much waiting and back and forth, Ring finally gave them somewhat of a response. Unfortunately, it wasn't one they were hoping for, and Ashley still felt unsafe and without any clue as to how a hacker had been watching their daughter...
No Apologies
The Ring employee to whom Ashley spoke seemed incredibly insincere. Instead of apologizing or doing anything to get to the bottom of the issue, they asked instead whether or not the family's account had strong passwords or two-factor authentication. Ashley was shocked at the disinterest...
Blaming The Wrong Person
Ashley felt like she was being blamed rather than consoled. Her family was the victim of a horrible crime at the hands of Ring's own device, and no one from the company seemed to care. “To be honest, it felt like they were trying to place the blame on me. As a mother, I already feel guilty enough that I let this happen to my family…There’s just no need for that,” she told a news outlet.
An Official Statement
In regards to what had happened, Ring did release a statement: “Recently, we were made aware of an incident where malicious actors obtained some Ring users’ account credentials (e.g., username and password) from a separate, external, non-Ring service and reused them to log in to some Ring accounts.”
Enforcing Password Protection
The Ring spokesperson also emphasized the role of strong passwords. “Unfortunately, when the same username and password is reused on multiple services, it’s possible for bad actors to gain access to many accounts.” Ashley's passwords weren't strong enough, and even though that's not her fault, she made a point to change nearly every password she used after this...
Ring Has Addressed The Issue
Despite the scare, Ring assured users, including Ashley's family, that scares like this would hopefully never happen again. “Customer trust is important to us and we take the security of our devices seriously,” the company added. Ashley wasn't sure if she felt comfortable enough to still keep the camera in the house...
Long-Lasting Fear
Despite the removal of the camera from the home and the changing of passwords, Ashley still doesn't feel secure, and her four daughters are afraid. It's been months since the incident, but no amount of reassurance or compensation from the company is enough for the LeMay family to want to continue using a Ring camera in their home.
Making a Change
Joe and Ashely hoped that other families would learn from their experience and use extremely strong passwords on their Ring accounts if they felt the need to buy one of the cameras. They were too wary of ever using one again, but they understood that some families felt safer with surveillance. They would have to just find another way to keep their house secure, but that was a small price to pay if it meant they never had to deal with a terrifying hacker again.