Access to online video games at certain ages can lead to stories like the one involving a Chinese teenager. While in a city in Dublin they are considering restricting mobile phone use to those under 13 years old, this young girl of that age spent many hours a day playing games like Honor of Kings. And, despite being a free mobile game, her parents found out that they had run out of savings when they discovered that their daughter had spent $64,000, a figure she reached in just 4 months.
According to TechSpot portal, this is the case of a high school student from Henan. Following a call from the teacher, who confessed to her mother that she believed the young girl could be addicted to mobile games, her mother began to investigate and discovered that she had only 0.5 yuan in her bank account, an amount equivalent to only six cents. Thus, in just four months, her daughter had managed to deplete the savings of her and her husband, a situation she managed to hide by concealing transactions and the related notifications.
Gave away thousands of dollars to classmates
As reported, the young girl spent $17,000 on buying mobile games, an industry characterized (generally) by the free nature of the games. She also invested $29,526 in in-app purchases, a sum that she used to gain various advantages in the games she played. Lastly, she also gave just over $17,000 to ten classmates so they could buy games on their own, which raised her total spending to $64,000.
The young girl admitted to buying games for her classmates to avoid being bothered by them. She also claimed not to understand concepts like the origin of money, but she was able to delete payment records and transactions. Unfortunately for the family, the mother has tried to get several payment companies to refund the money, but so far she has not received the full amount. In fact, the story is even more surprising considering that China has restricted minors’ access to video games considering them products capable of generating addiction.
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