16,000 Amazon e-books vanish when hacker takes over Bay Area woman's account

BENICIA, Calif. (KGO) -- A North Bay woman who admits she's addicted to reading may hold a Kindle record: more than 16,000 ebooks. But when a hacker took over her Amazon account, every last one disappeared.

This viewer says her books are her life. It took her nearly 20 years to build the huge collection, reading two or three books a day. Then suddenly her entire library was gone. With nowhere else to turn, she contacted 7 On Your Side.

Judy Johnsen's Benicia book-filled home tells her story.

"I'm just trying to sort these by author and title," Johnsen said. "I have all kinds of other books here."

Books are crammed on shelves, piled on tables, stuffed in bags, stacked in the hallway, boxed up in the garage.

"I probably have six or seven thousand physical books," Johnsen said.

But her biggest collection isn't on the shelves. It's on her Amazon Kindle -- more than 16,500 books.

"16,511 books on my Kindle," Johnsen said.

A full library she can hold in one hand, taking it anywhere, feeding a lifelong passion.

"I've been reading since I was three years old. I was reading Irving Wallace when I was 12. I read 'The Count of Monte Cristo, 'The Three Musketeers,' all the classics. I fell in love with mysteries in high school. I spent all my money on books. Other teenage girls went to Barbie dolls. All my money went to books," Johnsen said.

She prefers the portable Kindle to her many physical books.

"This is a heavy book," she says, lifting a 400page hardcover. Then, lifting her Kindle: "And this is 16,000 books."

"It goes with me every place I go. Doesn't matter if I'm sitting on the front porch, if I have a flat tire and have to wait for AAA, I have a book with me at all times," Johnsen said.

"I'll read two or three books a day. Yeah, it is an addiction, but I consider it a healthy addiction. The world of reading is unlimited, it expands my horizons," Johnsen said.

Then, out of nowhere, came the shock.

She got a message from Amazon that said: "Per your request, we have changed the email on your account."

But she did no such thing.

She opened her Kindle. All 16,000 of her beloved books were gone.

"'Devastated' is not a strong enough word. " Johnsen said. "It took me probably 18 years give or take to collect all the books, and in the blink of an eye they were lost to me, "I couldn't conceive how I could not ever read those books."

It turns out a hacker had changed that email, locking her out of her account, and locking in all of her books.

"I don't know why they would want my 16,000 books. They took everything that is important to me. Why would you do tha? I think they just wanted my credit card," Johnsen said.

She was right. The thief used her account to buy two Nintendo Switch video systems, which were shipped to Michigan.

And a can of cat food, which the hacker sent to Johnsen -- possibly to test her account.

Even that was useless -- her dog didn't want cat food.

"What am I going to do? How do I fill my days?,'' Johnsen said. "Thank gosh I have Jerry and had to walk him all the time."

She called Amazon to report the hack. The company kept sending a code to reset her password. But that didn't help because the codes went to the email on the account... which was now the hacker's email.

So the thief got the reset, not Johnsen.

"I was petrified I was never going to get my books back," she said.

Johnsen's author friends sent her their latest physical books to fill the void. She spent her days walking her little pug.

She could read her physical books, but she'd read most. They're too heavy to carry around. And she wanted her Kindle, which let her order new books in an instant.

Frustrated and out of options, she contacted 7 On Your Side.

"I watch Channel 7 all the time, and I've seen your 7 On Your Side stories of helping people," Johnsen said.

7 On Your Side reached out to Amazon. Within days, Johnsen got a call.

"She said, 'All your books are back,'" Johnsen said. "I was ecstatic."

Amazon unlocked her account, and all 16,000-plus books poured back into her Kindle.

"I was so excited. I was on the phone with my friends and family saying, 'Guess what? I got my books back. I got my books back,'" Johnsen said.

"Thank you so very, very much, 7 On Your Side, for giving me my life back, making me the happiest person in the world right now," Johnsen said.

Our thanks to Amazon, which also gave Judy a $100 gift card for the trouble. Remember, when you buy a Kindle ebook, you're really buying a license to read it, not ownership of the book. Rights disappear if you close the account. Luckily, the hackers did not close it on her, and all her books came back.
Judith says she likely gave away personal information by clicking on a link in her email -- as she gets many invitations and letters from friends in the literary world. Amazon did not say how a consumer could recover a hijacked account, when password resets don't help..

Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.

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