In China’s Henan province, the parents of a 13-year-old girl were shocked to discover that their daughter had spent a staggering amount of 449,500 yuan (equivalent to $63,000) on some mobile games. It was a great financial shock that no parent could have anticipated.
The shocking discovery unfolded when the mother decided to check the savings account she and her husband had diligently contributed to over the years. To her utter dismay, she found that only a paltry sum of 0.5 yuan remained in the account What was even more distressing was the revelation that their teenage daughter was the culprit behind this unexpected depletion.
Intriguingly, the girl had resorted to utilizing her mother’s debit card to fuel her insatiable addiction to video games. Over a span of just four months, she had successfully managed to exhaust the entirety of their savings account. To further confuse everyone, the girl erased all traces of her financial transactions in order to avoid being caught by her mother.
The girl’s teacher in school noticed that the girl was spending an excessive amount of time on her phone during school hours. This behavior concerned her teacher so much that felt obliged to contact her mother herself to inform her of her daughter.
It was because of this call that the mother started to look into the issue as she noticed something was wrong with her daughter. In a video that later circulated on social media platforms, the distraught mother can be seen meticulously examining numerous bank statements, each revealing her daughter’s ridiculous expenditures.
The South China Morning Post shed light on the extent of the girl’s spending spree. It was disclosed that she had squandered a staggering 330,000 yuan on purchasing games and making in-game transactions.
Additionally, she had splurged approximately 100,000 yuan on procuring games for her fellow schoolmates. The girl said that she felt pressured by her colleagues and worried that her parents “would find out” about her gaming habits and “be angry”, so she decided to please them by buying games for them with her mother’s credit card.
“When my friends asked me to pay for games, I did, even though I was uncomfortable,” the girl said.
Reflecting on the situation, the girl’s mother openly admitted her error in entrusting her daughter with the PIN code for her debit card. She had initially provided it as a safety precaution in case of emergencies, never fathoming that her child would exploit it in such a profound manner, leading to the rapid depletion of the family’s savings.
This heart-wrenching tale serves as a reminder of excessive gaming addiction among young individuals. In an era dominated by digital temptations, it highlights the need for parents to be aware of the activities of their children, as well as fostering open lines of communication within families to address such issues promptly.