An 11-year-old boy has sent his mum into shock after it turned out he had spent thousands of dollars on the game Roblox resulting in her card being declined at the supermarket.
The Auckland mum-of-three thought she had been scammed since he had recently cleared her card.
“I rushed home and … checked my statement and I saw all these charges from Apple,” Radha Etheridge said.
“And my first thought was that the card had been hacked and there had been some fraud,” she added.
There were 53 charges, equalling around $6750, which was enough to pay for several months worth of groceries.
“I got in touch with Apple, and they said that they were charges to do with Roblox,” she said.
“I put two and two together and figured out that, you know, my son here, who is an excellent gamer – good at gaming and many things, had been using Roblox.
Etheridge’s son Finn said he was surprised because he hadn’t seen any in-app purchases and did not know he was charging his mother’s card.
After a months-long process and frustration, Apple has so far refunded $3630, and Etheridge says this is a warning for any family that allows their child to play Roblox.
“It’s primarily minors who are using Roblox and … there should be better controls in place,” she said.
