The article discusses the issue of children accumulating huge debts through in-app purchases in freemium games. It highlights 10 cases where children spent thousands of dollars on virtual items, with the highest amount being $46,000 by a 15-year-old Belgian teenager. The cases involve popular games such as FIFA, Clash of Clans, and Game of War Fire Age.
In most cases, the children used their parents' credit cards or debit cards to make the purchases, often without their knowledge or consent. Some parents were able to get refunds from the game developers or credit card companies, while others were not.
The article raises concerns about the lack of regulation in the gaming industry and the need for better parental controls to prevent children from making unauthorized purchases. It also highlights the risk of addiction to in-app purchases and the potential for financial harm to families.
The cases include:
* A 7-year-old boy who spent $3,000 on Clash of Clans
* A 10-year-old boy who spent $1,328 on Fortnite
* A 13-year-old boy who spent $4,468 on various games
* A 17-year-old boy who spent $8,000 on FIFA
* A 19-year-old boy who spent $10,000 on various games over three years
* A 9-year-old boy who spent $12,000 on Dragon City
* An 11-year-old boy who spent $14,900 on Lucky Games
* A 15-year-old boy who spent $46,000 on Game of War Fire Age
The article concludes by asking readers to share their thoughts on whether parents should be able to get refunds for unauthorized purchases made by their children.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. Clash of Titans is a free game with over 100 million unique players per day and a profit of $10 million a month.
2. Paula Martner's 7-year-old twin boys ran up a bill of $3,000 playing Clash of Titans on the family iPad.
3. Paula Martner had given her sons permission to download the game, but they hadn't downloaded anything extra.
4. The boys were introduced to the world of in-app purchases, which led to the large bill.
5. Apple refunded Paula Martner the $3,000.
6. A single mother of two, who is a survivor of polio and uses a wheelchair, had her account almost completely emptied by her 10-year-old son, who spent over $1,328 on in-app purchases.
7. The mother was unable to get a refund from Microsoft, Epic Games, or her bank.
8. A 13-year-old boy, Cameron Crowe Sanz, racked up a bill of $4,468 through in-app purchases on his iPad.
9. Cameron's father filed an official police complaint against him for fraud, but was unable to get a refund from Apple.
10. A 21-year-old man, known as Kenscoff, spent over $10,000 on in-app purchases for freemium games over the course of three years.
11. Kenscoff eventually sought professional help to treat his addiction to in-app purchases.
12. A 17-year-old boy spent almost $8,000 on in-app purchases for the FIFA franchise using his father's credit card.
13. The boy's father was unable to get a refund from Microsoft or his credit card company.
14. A 9-year-old boy spent $12,000 on in-app purchases for the mobile game Dragon City.
15. The boy's mother, Ni Cash Boulos, was able to get a refund from Apple.
16. A Chinese mother's 11-year-old son spent $14,900 on in-app purchases for the gaming platform Lucky Games.
17. The mother was unable to get a refund from Tencent, the owner of Lucky Games.
18. A 15-year-old boy in Belgium spent $46,000 on in-app purchases for the game Game of War Fire Age over the course of three months.
19. The boy used his grandfather's credit card to make the purchases.
20. The boy's mother had given him access to the credit card to buy e-books, but he linked it to his iTunes account and made the in-app purchases.