We’ve also had this occur occasionally( half-a dozen times over the years) and about 6-7 hours covered the worst lock out.
Fortunately, have employees who work remotely and used them to print our packing slips.(Since have an aversion to giving AMZ more $$, don’t use their shipping labels except occasionally, when assume we need A-Z guarantee. We seem to draw freight-forwarders in Illinois.)
This scares the crap out of me. From time to time, I will get a text from Amazon with an OTP that I didn’t request. It’s impossible for me to tell which seller account it’s coming from or my personal buyer account which is separate and all connected to the same cell. It happens a few times a year.
Need to move to an authenticator App ASAP…
What a nightmare of a story. Glad you were able to get this all under control!
Yes, the authenticator apps are much safer because nothing is sent over the network. I would encourage you to look into physical security keys for you and your employees as well as that is the only way to be sure. You have to have the dongle in your possession to log into the account - no one can log in without it, and Amazon supports passkeys. I was lucky I am 100% FBA and my account was only locked for about a week. It still drove me nuts though. I was able to contact their security people, but even then it took several agonizing days to get access.
Keep in mind I have tons of experience with this kind of stuff and they STILL managed to gain access to my account, and I still have no idea how they made it past 2 factor. They also archived the orders they were placing so I didn’t see anything wrong for several days after I got the alert from Capital One. You can archive orders in your buyer account and you will NOT see them. You have to actually go to your settings and then to archived orders to see those.
I also actually went to the residence where they were sending the merch (very close to me) and it was a really sketchy place with a “No Trespassing” sign in the window. Thank God I was armed, but never should have gone there looking back. Someone was inside but wouldn’t answer the door and it was at night. Sometimes I am too angry to be scared I guess.
-Ana
Thank you for mentioning this again.
On a mobile browser, neither of the abilities to archive orders nor to search for them appears; you must put your browser into “desktop view”. I do not know about the mobile app. And honestly, it’s an option that I have personally always overlooked…until now.
I have a google voice number to get an sms text message from Amazon.
Can I continue using this, or is this being deprecated?
My backup 2FA is a landline, but I am moving out and closing down operations and no longer have access to my phone number.
I want to keep it simple and prefer to not use my mobile phone number and not use an authenticator app unless I have to.
Any thoughts?
Most virtual numbers are flagged by services and are marked as invalid when you try to use them, but give it a try
For those familiar with authenticator apps, do they communicate with Amazon on the device (phone) or computer? Do we have to enter our Amazon username/password into the authenticator app?
They do not communicate at all.
Amazon gives you a qr code, you scan it with the app. That qr code is a mathematical equation. Your phone then calculates a 6 digit number. You type this number into amazon and that confirms that your phone got the equation right and will always get it right when the code rolls over every 60 seconds.
Appreciate your patience…
Does Amazon display a QR code on the website on my monitor, I scan the Amazon website with the authenticator app on my phone?
I only access Amazon using a laptop - I do not use a mobile phone to access amazon.
Yes
Yes
Same here
Neither do we
However, the authenticator app is a cell phone function. It requires you to use the cell phone camera to scan the QR code so that the Amazon authenticator can function as the provider of the 2 factor code generator needed at sign in.
Yep, amazon displays the qr code on your computer screen, and using your smart phone, you open the app, and add a site and it will ask for camera access so you can scan the qr code
I’m sitting here wondering if anyone here has more than one seller account they are responsible for and the main user AND also used an authenticator App on the same phone.
I imagine a nightmare scenario if I switch over for both. I’m closing my slower business down in August (that decision has been made and agreed to).
Perhaps I go Authenticator on the account I’m keeping and stay with text for the other…
Thoughts? GO!
LOL
Use two different Authenticators … Microsoft for one and Google for the other …
I have access to admin multiple Office 365 accounts and Google accounts. All are on the same phone and app. And named approximately. No issues
But, it does mean that I have to now provide my mobile phone number to Amazon, correct? Even if I plan to use the authenticator app on my mobile phone?
You do not need to provide your mobile number to amazon to use an authentication app.
The app does not care about your phone number. You could install it on a tablet and it would still work.
So, I install an approved authenticator app on my phone. Amazon doesn’t know what my mobile number is.
The current model: Amazon sends an SMS message is being deprecated around March 28th.
I scan the QR code and the authenticator app displays a number and I enter it onto Amazon’s website - sound about right?
Finally, could I, in theory, install an authenticator app on my spouse’s mobile phone and choose either authenticator app among my mobile phone or my spouse’s?
I believe that’s just for the initial setup. After that’s done, you go to the App for the codes moving forward.
Haven’t done Amazon yet but I use authenticator for other things that require it. That’s how they work
Yes
If you do this, use the same email account that you set up your phone with the authenticator and the Amazon account generator should be there (Google sync the account on ours).
Yes/no.
Google yes because it can sync between devices. Other apps no.
