Chinese Teen Splurges $86k on Mobile Games, Wipes Out Family’s Savings

By Staff, Agencies

A 13-year-old girl from Henan, China, was recently caught splurging 449,500 yuan [S$86,000] on mobile games, wiping out her family savings in just four months.

The teen found her mom's debit card at home and used it to fund her gaming addiction, reported South China Morning Post.

Noticing that the girl spent a lot of time on her phone in school, a teacher suspected she was hooked on pay-to-play games and alerted her mom, Wang.

But the warning came too late as Wang checked her bank account and found less than one yuan left, Elephant News reported.

In a video interview, the tearful mom showed pages of bank statements detailing payments for mobile games.

Her daughter admitted to splashing out 330,000 yuan on buying games as well as in-game purchases.

The girl also spent 100,000 yuan on buying games for numerous classmates.

"When they asked me to pay for their games, I paid despite feeling reluctant," she said, explaining she didn't seek help from her teachers because "her parents would find out and get angry".

According to Wang, her daughter deleted all mobile game transaction records on her smartphone.

This went unnoticed until the teacher called her.

The incident sparked debate online, with netizens divided on who should be held responsible.

One netizen commented: "A girl, aged 13, already knows what she is doing, but she just doesn't want to admit it."

Meanwhile, another netizen said it was the parents' own fault for letting their child's spending spree go unchecked.