WESTPORT, Mass. — A Massachusetts mom is finding out the threat to her Amazon account wasn't a virus or a scam, but her own child!
Jessica Nunes got quite the shock when thousands of dollars worth of packages turned up on her doorstep.
"She ordered five pink motorcycles, five blue motorcycles, 10 pairs of cowgirl boots and a Jeep," Nunes said, recounting the purchases made by her 5-year-old daughter, Lila Varisco.
In all, she ordered over $5,000 worth of goodies and her mom didn't have a clue, all thanks to Amazon.
"You just press the yellow button and you press the brown button," Lila said.
Nunes said she remembers giving Lila her phone to play some games in the car, or so she thought.
"I had looked back at the time. It was around 9:30, which is exactly when we were in the car. So (it) wasn't fraudulent. It was just this one, the bikes and the Jeep came out to about $3,180. The boots alone were about $600."
Thanks to Amazon's two-day shipping, Lila's ill-gotten gains arrived in no time at all.
"These were actually non-returnable originally, but I had reached out to Amazon at 2 o'clock in the morning and I was, like, 'Please, is there anything that we can do?'" Nunes said.
The company eventually obliged and sent the return labels. Thankfully, she was able to cancel the cowboy boots before they left the warehouse.
As for the Jeep, "We still have a giant two-seat Jeep coming in as well that I couldn't cancel the order, but they are going to let me return it," Nunes said.
Instead of a punishment, Nunes is using it as a teachable moment for her daughter.
"I did tell her that maybe if she acts right, she behaves and she does some chores around the house, that maybe we can get her a bike that's more geared towards her age range. A little slower, maybe," she said.
So how can you prevent your own child from going on an accidental shopping spree?
First, narrow down what devices access Amazon, because each one operates a little bit differently.
If it's an Echo, go to the Alexa app, choose "settings" and "voice purchasing," then turn it off or create a code.
If it's an iPhone, there are a few ways to secure your Amazon app. The easiest is to remove your saved credit cards from the app. It's fine, it's not required.