HOUSTON — (KPRC/CNN) - The parents of a 4-month old boy said a man hacked into their Nest Wi-Fi camera network, pretending he was going to kidnap their baby.
It happened just before midnight Monday, when the child’s parents, Nathan and Ellen Rigney were asleep downstairs, and their infant, Topper, was asleep upstairs.
"My husband laughed. He called it my CCTV because I would have the Nest cam pulled up on the iPad over there and then the little audio monitor right next to it so I could see him from every angle," said mom Ellen Rigney.
Above Topper's crib are two cameras with audio, and the only voice they ever transmit is his. That is until Monday night.
"I said, 'Hey, what is this, what's going on? We hear it again and two beeping, it's the noise it makes, and then we heard sexual expletives being said in his room. So, we throw on the light in our room. He turned that camera on and told us, said, 'Turn off the light,' and then said, 'I'm going to kidnap your baby. I'm in your baby's room,'" said Ellen Rigney.
Nathan Rigney quickly raced upstairs but found Topper safe and sound, which is when Ellen remembered a story about Wi-Fi camera hacking.
"I kept telling him, 'He's not in here, someone's hacking this,'" said Ellen Rigney.
They shut the system down fast and called police, terrified, relieved and determined to warn anyone who would listen, posting the story online.
"I didn't know what to think. It was the most frightening. It's a voice that I will never forget, unnerving and unsettling. You have something that's supposed to make you feel better and instead it makes you feel the opposite, makes you feel invaded and uncomfortable,” said Ellen Rigney.
The family has stop using Wi-Fi cameras at their home and is only using an off-line, closed circuit camera now.
There was a similar story Houston area in 2015. A nanny said a man hacked into the baby monitor of the child she was caring for and talked about what she was doing inside the house.
Investigators are now looking into the case.
Courtesy KPRC via CNN Newsource
