Girl Spends Over 5 Million Rupees on Online Gaming, Leaving Mother with Just Rs. 5
A 13-year-old girl from China has caused her mother to suffer financial hardship due to her addiction to online gaming and in-app purchases. The girl reportedly stole a staggering amount of 449,500 yuan (Rs. 51,98,671) from her mother over a period of four months, according to a report by South China Morning Post. This incident highlights the dangers of excessive online gaming and the need for parents to monitor their children’s activities.
How a 13-year-old girl spent huge sums on online gambling
The mother of the girl, named Wang, only became aware of the incident when a concerned teacher told her about the girl’s excessive phone use and suspected addiction to online paid games. When Wang finally checked his bank balance, he found that he only had 0.5 yuan (about Rs. 5) in his account.
Later, when the girl’s father was confronted about this excessive spending, he admitted to spending 120,000 yuan (about Rs. 13,87,854) on games and another 210,000 yuan (Rs. 24,28,745) on in-game purchases. Not only for himself, he also revealed that he had spent 100,000 yuan to buy games for at least 10 of his classmates.
How did he manage to spend this money? In his confession, he admitted that he found the debit card at home and connected it to his smartphone. The girl’s mother had previously shared the bank card password with her daughter for emergencies.
Amazingly, the girl even deleted all transaction records related to online purchases.
Indian boy loses Rs. 36 lakh in Free Fire
In a similar case, a 16-year-old boy from Hyderabad, India had emptied his mother’s bank account last year due to online game purchases. In this case, the woman lost a whopping ₹36,000. According to an IANS report, he used his mother’s bank account to pay for online games. According to the cyber crime wing of the Hyderabad police, a young boy downloaded a game app called “Free Fire” on his grandfather’s mobile phone.
What can parents do to prevent such incidents?
It is very important to take steps such as unlinking your bank accounts from the Google Play Store or adding a password to prevent unauthorized transactions if you give your phone or even your credit card to a minor.
