China
21:08, 24-Aug-2017
Chinese boy, 10, uses mum’s WeChat account to tip livestreamer US$900
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A woman in northwest China's Shaanxi Province got a nasty shock this week when she found that her 10-year-old son had spent 6,000 yuan (about 900 US dollars) within four days on sending virtual gifts to livestreaming performers.
According to local media, the boy spent the money on imaginary gifts for singers he liked and on requesting that they sing certain songs. He didn’t know that virtual money was actually being exchanged for real money.
Lists of the boy's in-app purchase /Photo from hsw.cn
Lists of the boy's in-app purchase /Photo from hsw.cn
The mother, identified only as Mrs. Pan, noticed that the money was gone on Monday when she checked her account with WeChat Wallet, an online payment platform. Going through her payment history, she found how the money had been spent. She had been allowing her son to use her smart phone.
The boy explained that as he clicked the gift icon appearing below every performer’s headshot, a message showed up saying “Insufficient balance, please charge first.” Then he was automatically transferred from the livestreaming app to a payment page, which listed different charging numbers with money signs. However, this 10-year-old had no idea that those numbers stood for real money.
Payment page /Photo from hsw.cn
Payment page /Photo from hsw.cn
”I trusted him too much,” Mrs. Pan told a reporter.
This is not the first case of kids making pricy in-app purchases in China. A 12-year-old boy in southwest China’s Chongqing reportedly tipped a game livestreamer 60,000 yuan within five seconds in March.