Chilling moment strange man hacks into Ring camera in five-year-old child's bedroom and whispers to him. 'You can see the fear in his eyes'

By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Published: | Updated:

Shocking video captured the moment a strange man hacked into a Texas family's Ring camera and terrified their five-year-old son.

Ausharee McLeod said her son was woken up in the middle of the night on July 20 by an unknown voice speaking to him through a Ring camera, KCEN-TV reported.

Video showed the child rolled out of the bed and stared wide-eyed at the camera as a voice whispered, 'Hey.' 

The boy slowly started backing away from the camera then started screaming.

'You can see the fear in his eyes, he knew something wasn't right,' McLeod said.

Video captured the moment a strange man hacked a Ring camera and whispered to a five-year-old boy in his bedroom

Video captured the moment a strange man hacked a Ring camera and whispered to a five-year-old boy in his bedroom

Ausharee McLeod (right) said her son (center) was woken up in the middle of the night on July 20 by an unknown voice speaking to him

Ausharee McLeod (right) said her son (center) was woken up in the middle of the night on July 20 by an unknown voice speaking to him

The mother said she was awoken by a notification from the Ring app and logged in to see her son with a scared look on his face.

'He was sitting, facing the camera as if he was communicating back with the camera,' McLeod said. 

'He said "Daddy, daddy.'' I rolled over. I looked at my husband, and I asked him if he was on the camera talking to him. He said he was asleep.' 

McLeod said within minutes the hacker had deleted the video and the parents searched their home out of fear someone had broken in.

'It was like it never even happened. Thank God I saved the video,' McLeod said.

'My son, this is his safe haven. Mommy and daddy are supposed to protect him. We don't know if this person has patched in before or what.'

The boy slowly started backing away from the camera then ran out of his bedroom screaming

The boy slowly started backing away from the camera then ran out of his bedroom screaming

The parents filed a police report and tried to trace the IP address of the hacker so they can pursue further legal action.

'They did say that sometimes people that hack into your Wi-Fi are near you. So that's the scary part as well is knowing that this person is likely close to us,' McLeod said.

McLeod warned other families to be cautious when installing ring cameras and to believe their children if they say they heard something through the camera.

'If your child comes to you and says that someone's talking to them through the camera, listen to them,' McLeod said. 

'They're not just joking around. They're not just saying it to be saying it.'

Texas

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