Misunderstanding leads to bogus rumor that the Amazon app was hacked

A worrisome rumor about the Amazon app is making the rounds. The rumor is that Amazon has been hacked and the attackers added random Amazon lockers to users' lists of saved addresses on the app. Scared Amazon subscribers said that these were not legitimate lockers and that orders sent to one of these fake lockers, located in places labeled as Amazon Locker, Amazon Hub Locker, Amazon Fresh, or Amazon Counter would end up stolen by the thieves responsible for posting the lockers listed in the app.

While my personal Amazon account did not have any of these Amazon lockers listed, my son did have three such locations which I deleted for him. But as it turned out, Amazon was not hacked and the whole thing was an example of how something legitimate can get blown out of proportion online. It merely was an attempt by Amazon to allow its subscribers to have orders delivered to one of its secure lockers near each subscriber. 

Now that we are in the holiday shopping season, a huge number of packages are arriving on porches daily. And that makes it a great time to be a porch pirate swiping merchandise from the front of shoppers' homes as soon as the boxes are taken off those ubiquitous Amazon trucks. So Amazon thought that it was doing its customers a favor by allowing them to have their purchases delivered to a secure Amazon locker near them. And guess what, some of them are located inside Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods grocery stores.

The problem is that Amazon has not been very clear in explaining why these addresses just showed up out of nowhere on the Amazon app. To see if Amazon added some close-by Amazon lockers near you, open the app and tap the icon of a head and body at the bottom of the screen. Once you do that, tap on "Your Orders" at the top of the display. Under "Account Settings," press "Your Addresses" and besides your personal addresses, you'll see nearby Amazon lockers where you can request your Amazon orders be sent to.

So there is no need to delete these addresses and if you're concerned about someone ripping off your Amazon deliveries, selecting one of the Amazon lockers might be a safer and more secure delivery option, especially if there is no one at home all day when an Amazon truck might be coming by to drop off some packages to you.

So we've put the kibosh on this rumor about Amazon being hacked. Montana MacLachlan, Amazon’s global media relations spokesperson said, "We have no evidence of a security event at Amazon and our systems remain secure. Customers who have questions about their account should contact customer service."