Father Forced To Sell Car to Pay Up Kid's In-app Purchases On iPhone Dragons: Rise of Berk, UK Child's Gaming Addiction Generates Huge Bill

Jul 01, 2021, 17:27 IST

In an iPhone game, a 7-year-old child generated a bill of Rs 1.33 lakh, forcing his father to sell the family car to make ends meet.

A recent example demonstrates how a children's game might result in unforeseen expenses if there are no safeguards in place for in-app purchases. Even children's games are not spared.

During a single hour of gaming, a seven-year-old in the United Kingdom spent about £1,300 on in-app purchases.

After a while, his father became aware of the purchases, which he initially mistook for fraud.

The father complained to Apple about the charge and received a partial refund.

After his kid made numerous in-game purchases, an iPhone game cost a father over £1,300. To settle the cost, the man, a doctor, was forced to sell his family car.

This incident has been reported from North Wales, UK, while seven-year-old Ashaz was playing the iPhone game Dragons: Rise of Berk for an hour. Ashaz made multiple in-app payments ranging from £1.99 to £99.99 to keep his gaming progress going. The total cost of the items came to £1,289.70. (approximately Rs 1.33 lakh).

His father, Muhammad Mutaza, didn't find out about it till later. The 41-year-old consultant endocrinologist was taken aback when he saw that the game's free edition permitted users as young as 13 to make unlimited purchases.

He explained how the game allowed users to make as many as £99.99 transactions in an interview with an international news organization. Given that the game is intended for children aged four and up, he claims that the amount of purchasing power is just too great for children of that age.

Muhammad first believed he had been duped. He only discovered several transactions totalling a huge sum when he reviewed his emails. Following Muhammad's complaint to Apple, the firm reimbursed him £207. (approximately Rs 21,000).

Of course, the remaining bill was huge, and Muhammad had to sell his Toyota Aygo to meet the expenses. He intends to fight the allegations in court immediately.

He said that his son's unintentional purchases that "almost maxed out" his credit card were nothing more than the corporation duping his child into making money. His point is that a free game, especially one aimed at children, should never allow such large-scale transactions. The game's free-to-play structure led him to assume that this was not possible.

Although such purchases are password-secured through iTunes, Muhammad believes his son may have seen and recalled his password earlier. Apple also notes in a statement to the international news organization that there should have been additional features to assist to avoid such transactions.

So it's unknown how Ashaz got past them, or whether the checks were in place or not. However, there is a compelling argument to be made about how a seven-year-old was able to make several purchases for a children's game, resulting in a curiously high cost that was visible to everybody.