My Son Spent $1500 on Fortnite in 30 Minutes
Yeah. You read the title correctly.
My 7 year-old has become a huge fan of the game Fortnite. If you have a kid that’s into gaming, you most likely already know what Fortnite is. Fortnite is a game that’s “free to play.” HOWEVER, they make money off of virtual transactions. You spend your real world money to purchase “V-Bucks”, which is the currency you use in the game to buy new characters, outfits, dance moves, equipment…etc. Our son spent $1500 on V-Bucks.
The Receipts
I was just going through a regular day when all of a sudden receipts started rolling into the email inbox. One by one they rolled in. One-hundred dollars at a time. Everything being charged to my card that was connected to the PlayStation Network, and my bank account was verifying that this was legit happening.
What in the Sam-Hell is Going On!?
While I’m trying to figure out what the heck is happening, Melo is still spending $100 at a time buying these damn V-Bucks. By the time we got to him he had amassed over $1500 of V-Buck purchases. Bro, what were you thinking? (This question is for him for when he finally reads this). It turns out I left my card info on his account when I bought him a different game awhile back. It never asked him for a password or anything. He just had access to buy whatever he wanted. That was a dumb move on my part I guess.
Prevent this from Happening
I didn’t get mad at him, because it was ultimately my fault. He knows what money is (as in physical cash/coins), but he never understood the concept of debit cards and bank accounts and how it all works together. Well hopefully now he does. (Lol)…
The easiest way to prevent this from happening is to make sure to delete your card information from your kids account after purchasing something. This way, if they try to buy something, they’ll need to ask you. You can also just buy your kids PlayStation gift cards which will then add money to their PlayStation accounts. This works kind of like a Dave & Busters or Chuck E. Cheese card, they’re done spending once they run out.
What To Do If This Happens To You
Fortnite is on several different gaming platforms, so this only applies to PlayStation since that’s what we have. There is a way to ask for refunds from PlayStation, and as long as you don’t abuse this, they’ll generally believe you and give you your money back. Everything can be done through their web chat support also. I’ve only had to do this once a long time ago, because I had some mystery game show up in my purchases. I was hoping it would work again. I put in my request and BOOM! They approved it.
I guess they felt like $1500 was excessive and obviously a mistake. They may not have been as lenient if Melo just would’ve bought $100 worth of V-Bucks.
Lock it Up!
At the end of the day, it was a learning lesson for myself and hopefully a reminder for you to check what your kids have access to. If your kid is a gamer, just ask them to go and buy something from their consoles online store. See what they do, and you’ll find out whether or not you have to lock it down more than it is. If you do have your card saved, make sure it always asks for a password to confirm the purchase, and obviously make sure your kid doesn’t know that password.
Practice safe gaming! Lookout for yourselves and your bank account!
