A 13-year-old girl in China managed to spend a staggering $64,000 on mobile games, leaving her parents devastated and her savings account completely depleted according to a Wednesday. Well-informed person report.
The event came to light when Gong Yiwang, the girl’s mother, received a call from her daughter’s concerned teacher at the boarding school, who suspected the girl was addicted to paid games, according to Insider citing Elephant News, a regional television channel. canal in the Chinese province of Henan.
After checking his bank account, Gong was horrified to find that there were only seven cents left, and that his own daughter had wiped out her life savings.
Investigating further, he discovered that from January to May, his daughter had spent approximately $16,800 purchasing game accounts and an alarming $30,000 on in-game purchases. The girl even wired substantial sums of money to at least 10 of her classmates who wanted to buy gaming-related merchandise, eventually amassing a total of $64,000.
Expressing her disbelief, Gong said, “I never thought a 13-year-old girl could do this. I’m in a daze; I feel like my head is going to explode.”
The emotional toll on the family was evident when Gong’s daughter tearfully confessed to Elephant News. She admitted to linking her mother’s debit card to her mobile phone, but she claimed that she had no knowledge of the source of the funds or the amount of her spending. It is revealed that she had obtained her mother’s password from her during a previous incident when she asked to make a different purchase.
The young woman’s friends had noticed her spending and continued to pressure her to give them money.
“If I didn’t send it to them, they would pester me all day,” the girl admitted to Elephant News. “If she told the teacher, I was afraid the teacher would tell my parents and my parents would be upset.”
In addition, the young woman deleted all the chat and transaction records to hide the payments from her parents, which aggravated the situation. Gong made desperate attempts to get refunds from various payment platforms, but she still hadn’t recouped her losses.
The story went viral in China
News of the staggering spending spree quickly went viral in China in late May, garnering more than 140 million views on Weibo, the country’s equivalent of Twitter.
This incident sheds light on the alarming problem of gaming addiction among Chinese youth. The prevalence of such addictions has led the Chinese government to implement internet restrictions for teenagers and children. Under these rules, teens may not play video games for more than three hours per week. While progress has been made toward this goal, cases like this highlight the ongoing challenges authorities face.
