Stolen WyzeCam and Deleted

So your response is to buy an extra Wyze cam in order to account for a bad security implementation by Wyze? I know these cams are cheap, but that doesn’t resolve poorly implemented security features. If Outdoor Cams already have the feature that requires an owner to remove cams from their account before others can use them, how hard would it be to force this on V2 and V3 cams? That is the answer, not buying cams to watch other cams being stolen.

It’s been debated a few times in the forum but some of us think it’s just a terrible idea to have this requirement for every reset, repurposed, recycled, and regifted Wyze camera. It’s not necessary and WILL cause way more trouble than it is worth.

If the ability to do this “reset/removal” was properly built into the app as it should be, then it would be NOT be the mass confusion you describe. Wyze “knows” the Mac address of the cameras on your account, so resetting and re-adding a cam to your own app should be easy, if it were done properly by Wyze. But the description of this thread where MULTIPLE users describe the history going away after a camera is stolen is NOT an acceptable situation. It’s a security hole that is not present for Outdoor cams.

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Unfortunately, you have no idea of what the entire situation is that appears to have caused this issue for the MULTIPLE users that reported this behavior. Did the thief contact Wyze support and express issues with the cam he just “purchased” from his neighbor and Wyze did something? Did the user not update his app/firmware? I can think of more, but you get the point. Just because your test of the plain vanilla situation “worked correctly”, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Clearly it did based on multiple users reporting it in this thread.

Ooh, time to go around the neighbourhood on a “shopping” spree :smiley:

I know the security feature on Apple devices is annoying when you want to sell them, but I’m sure it has helped cut down the theft rate of them.

Now it’s public knowledge that Wyze devices have no anti-theft, then I wouldn’t be surprised if the theft rate goes up.

If the device can be tied to the account, so that it automatically connects to the account when reset, then any new video events would be accessible.

Maybe something to add to the v4 if not possible to update current firmware.

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Then make it opt-in. people like you can have your camera’s stolen and lose all your video evidence, and people like me can deal with the annoyance of having to remove the camera from our account if we want to sell it.

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They’re stealing them back. Wyze employees are setting out in the dark of night. They bring them back and sell them as “deals” on the Wyze Garage Sale. It’s obvious.

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Year right, there selling all the returned Products after the AWS outages, so there ring to re-coop some money from all the pissed off customers…thats my guess,I did notice that on Amazon some wyze new items are cheaper that from wyze direct…go figure

@TimS. You need to tell us details so we know if you did the test correctly. Did you re-register the camera on your new account? Just by having a new email does not mean the Wyze system considers you a different user. It may tag you as the same user with a different email because of other PII and MAC association. The bottom line is that this is pathetic that no one from Wyze is commenting here with information on exactly what their system does. Customers shouldn’t have to guess what’s in the software or run experiments. The problem is not that a technical system has a glitch. The problem is the manufacturer doesn’t give a damn.

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Given my limited technical skills and limitations specific to my camera, network, and devices, please take these results with a grain of salt, it was not intended to be any sort of definitive scientific test. Please reference my previous post on this thread for screen shots. Keep in mind the Wyze app or Cam v2 did not require me do a separate un-register/re-register process before adding it to the new account. I’ve only ever used one Gmail email for my original Wyze account for all my Wyze devices.

I wanted to try this using the network at my friends house, but snow/ice on the roads made it unsafe. I ended up using my home network which the Cam v2 was originally connected. Below are the specific steps taken to create the new Wyze account and set up of the Cam v2 on the new account after disconnecting.

  1. I downloaded and installed the Wyze app onto an old Google 5X which had never had Wyze previous installed.

  2. Using a CenturyLink email I never use, I followed the normal process for creation/verification process.

  3. The activation code was emailed to the previously unused CenturyLink email, I input the code into the Wyze app and was now fully activated and ready to add devices.

  4. The Cam v2 was unplugged from the wall and microSD card removed. Before I unplugged the camera I took a screen shot to show how the recent events cloud recordings appeared under the Events Menu.

  5. I moved to a different room and selected the + to add a new device, selected Camera, then Wyze Cam . then followed all the normal screen prompts.

  6. No problems were encountered in setting up the new account or adding the Cam v2 on the new account. Cam worked perfectly on the new account using the app on the Google 5X.

  7. I separately opened the Wyze app on the original Wyze account on my 3 devices. This was done in sequence, with only one device running the app at a time. In each case, the camera did not show up in the main screen and no longer appeared on my original account.

  8. The original account app still showed the recent events cloud recordings under the Events Menu, but was now identified as “Unknown Device”. I was still able access and play the recordings.

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TimS. Thank you for your detailed reply. Seems like that’s what a thief would do. But since others are reporting other experiences, we’re all guessing. Maybe there is another time parameter, less than 14 days, for when the data disappears if the camera is not detected.

I suggest you submit a ticket to have them find out what is going on

I think they indicated since cam v2 , you would have to have deleted them from your account to be able to use them again on a new account

I never thought about this until a few weeks ago, so I unplugged a camera and tried to access the recording of mysefl “stealing” the camera. To my surprise, I found out that when the camera is unplugged, I have NO access to the recordings whatsoever from that camera. When I plug it back in, my access is returned. Bottom line, if someone steals or destroys the camera, everything is lost. I’ll be replacing all my Wyze cameras with another brand.

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Ohhhh, could troubleshooting. I think the app uses the camera to establish connection to the server.

When I loaned my outdoor cams tomy daughter, I had to delete them from my account to add them to hers.

Hopefully that means you can’t just walk off with someone else’s camera and start using them.

And hopefully Wyze has some type of security process to follow before deleting them on a support call

Whoa, that makes even less sense. Are you quite sure you’re talking about cloud “Events” (Events tab off home screen) and NOT the SD card recordings (playback button when viewing a particular camera)?

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Sounds like I could walk up to any wyze cam with my phone and add it to my account. That’s hilarious!

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Well, you could also walk up to any Alexa device or Fire TV stick or Wemo smart plug or Android phone or Windows PC and add it to your account, so…

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None of the devices you mentioned are security devices, so not even close to the same thing. The fact you can steal a security device and just add it to your own account is somewhat rediculous.

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Wishlist item in reply #10 above. Vote for it! :slight_smile: