Six Year Old Racks Up 16 K On His Mom's Credit Card Playing Video Games

[gam197]

“This 6-year-old racked up over $16K on his mom's credit card

Wilton., Conn., real-estate broker Jessica Johnson, 41, didn’t realize the younger of her two sons had gone on a shopping spree on her iPad. Over the month of July, George bought add-on boosters — starting with $1.99 red rings and moving up to $99.99 gold rings — that allowed him to access new characters and more speed, spending hundreds of bucks at a time.

You would think that even the company would have sent an email or called like they do if they suspect someone is using your credit card.

 

[gam197]

When Jessica discovered Apple and PayPal were withdrawing hefty sums — $562 here, $601 there — from her Chase account, she assumed it was a mistake or fraud and called the bank, confused by the unitemized charges. “The way the charges get bundled made it almost impossible [to figure out that] they were from a game,” she said.

 

[gam197]

There was a real issue with this when cell phone first came out and their children would run up outrageous bills using too many extras but that cleared up.

 

[Theo520]

Not a very attentive mom. She discovered the charges in July but waited till October to find out the source of the billing? Normal people would have resolved that 1-2 days, and cancelled their card immediately.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

You would think that even the company would have sent an email or called like they do if they suspect someone is using your credit card.

I don’t see the type of indications that would suggest that it was fraud, such as a transaction at a new place, on a new account, so on. These were all transactions that occurred on her Apple account.

Additionally, Apple provides protections to prevent this type of thing from happening. It happened before with some aquarium account. A lot of kids let their fish die and purchased more.

The details are not in the story, but I woudl guess that this mother registered her child’s fingerprint with the iPad and also allowed finger prints to authorize purchases. If she registered the child’s finger prints, then she should not have also allowed fingerprints to be used to authenticate purchases.

Require a password for App Store and iTunes purchases - Apple Support

 

[gam197]

If she registered the child’s finger prints, then she should not have also allowed fingerprints to be used to authenticate purchases.

She did not realize that that fingerprint allowed access to her credit cards.

The fingerprint options are on all new devices.

 

[pnewton]

Someone is not going to get an allowance for a few decades.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

The fingerprint options are on all new devices.

It came out in 2013. The technology is older than the child that was using it.
In 2017, devices got the option of FaceID (Which doesn’t work with a mask, BTW).
The newer devices tend to have FaceID but no fingerprint scanner.

She did not realize that that fingerprint allowed access to her credit cards.

I’m of the opinion that any device that has direct or indirect access to personal and financial records and accounts is never to be under the control of any other person, especially a child. She might not know of this either, but she could set up a child’s account on the device. If the child needs access to some resource, she can purchase it on her device and share it with the child’s account.

 

[gam197]

gam197:

The fingerprint options are on all new devices.

It came out in 2013. The technology is older than the child that was using it.
In 2017, devices got the option of FaceID (Which doesn’t work with a mask, BTW).

She might not know of this either, but she could set up a child’s account on the device. If the child needs access to some resource, she can purchase it on her device and share it with the child’s account.

The newer devices tend to have FaceID but no fingerprint scanner.

Even the cheap phones now have fingerprint. A separate account is the answer.

 

[Pattylt]

I had an incident soon after my granddaughter got an iPod. She purchased a 100$ add on to a game not realizing that it was a ton of money and shouldn’t have.

I called Apple and they removed the charge and then talked me through setting it up so that I have to authorize any app download …even if it a free app…and also any charges. It’s not hard to do or even find if you know to look for it. Apple excels at keeping children safe but you have to know to look.

Now, when she want to download a new app or make a purchase, she knows to text me first…ask…and then I know to look for the permissions request to pop up on my phone. It was a good lesson for both of us and she’s been perfect with it ever since.

 

[Pattylt]

A separate account is the answer.

A separate account will keep purchases from being made but will give a parent no control over what they download. I monitor everything my granddaughter does on her iPod. She has restricted access to YouTube for kid rated only and I’m notified for every request for purchases and apps. Much better to tie it with controls to your account than have no control at all.

 

[PHXsunsAZ]

That kid is eating ketchup packets and wearing grocery bags until they’re 18

 

[RootKitWarrior]

I would ground the kid indefinitely.

 

[gam197]

I would ground the kid indefinitely.

He is six years old and thought he was using play money. No the responsibility is the parents.