A young boy has secretly spent thousands of dollars of parents’ money in just a matter of weeks to make purchases in online games.
8-year-old Leon Berriedale-Johnson from Brighton, UK, has managed to rack up a bill of $3,900 on his mother’s credit card in just three weeks by purchasing add-ons for Roblox and Minecraft.
After she received the massive credit card bill, mum Martine grew concerned about how the family will pay off the debt while buying food and paying off other bills.
“I’d put in my card details once for him to buy an add-on for a game for £4.99. That was supposed to be a one-off special treat,” the single mum-of-two said.
“I had no idea that my details had been saved on the system and Leon was still using my card to buy more online. When I saw my credit card bill, I went crazy. I told him I was selling his Xbox.”
As the worried mother added, the bill was at least 100 times bigger than what she usually has to pay, making her fear that she wouldn’t be able to buy groceries and pay for the rest of the bills.
Since the two-week refund period was exceeded by a week, there is also no way for the mum to get her money back.
“I’m a single mum and I already struggle to put food on the table. But I’m always really careful with my finances. I just don’t know how I’m going to pay this bill,” Martine added.
“I’ve told the boys Christmas is canceled and that they’re not getting any toys. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to afford Christmas dinner after this.”
According to the mum, young Leon quickly realized the extent of his actions.
“He had understood that he was buying something but didn’t understand the financial consequences. But now I’ve explained it to him and he realizes what he did,” she added.
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Replaced!