A parent has revealed that their 10-year old son spent a whopping £1500 between July 2020 and December 2020 while playing Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch.
As I’m sure you’re all aware Fortnite is massively popular, especially with children. It’s a game that may be “free-to-play” but it’s monetised with cosmetic items in a way that gets consumers eager to buy the latest in-game skins.
Fortnite has had many crossover events with brands including Marvel and DC Comics. Mascots from PlayStation and Microsoft including Kratos and Master Chief have also featured.
Many in-game purchases are only available for a limited time, which adds pressure to pick up the latest cosmetics before they’re gone (otherwise known as FOMO, “fear of missing out”).
Fortnite isn’t a game that I play as it’s not to my taste and as I tend to avoid heavily monetised games due to my addictive personality.
However I do know, as a parent of a son who is nearly 10 years old, there is a lot of pressure from other school kids to play Fortnite, and I know that some kids get bullied for not acquiring the latest cosmetics.
So I won’t be judgmental as I know that there can be peer pressure from some school children, which can result in some kids dipping into a parent’s bank account.
In a post shared on mumsnet.com, the user explains how their son used a bank account normally reserved for savings for Christmas presents.
The OP says that this account is not one that is checked regularly, as no bills come or go from the account, and this is how their child was able to spend snippets of money here and there without them knowing. Before the parent realised, the son had spent £1500 on Fortnite microtransactions.
The Mumsnet user writes that they contacted their bank, and while they initially indicated that they could help, their stance soon changed as it was a “civil matter” and not fraud. From a bank’s perspective I can understand this, as disappointing as it must be for the parent.
So the parent then contacted Nintendo, and while the company was apparently more understanding of the situation, the OP was reportedly told that they would only refund the last 90 days of Fortnite transactions made through the Nintendo eShop.
However the parent claims they was only refunded £500 of the £1500, which amounts to 57 days’ worth of Fortnite spending, and not 90 days.
The parent says that they have tried to contact Nintendo, but have come across multiple issues.
“I have continued to contact them to try to further the case,” writes the Mumsnet user. “I cannot speak or email the same person twice. I cannot speak to a supervisor or manager. They have no complaints process! I am £1000 out of pocket with no way to even complain to a multi-billion dollar company!!”
The user also explains that since the incident, their son hasn’t played on his Nintendo Switch, which was a way for him to socialise with friends during lockdown.
I know the parent won’t need someone like me telling them that they have to take some responsibility for their son’s spending spree, but if you’re not familiar with video games and in-game purchases, there’s probably not a lot you can do until it’s too late.
Nintendo and many other gaming platforms have Parental Controls to stop children from spending their parents’ money, but sadly, these go ignored by many.
Closing out the post on the forum, the parent says that they want to protect the same thing happening to other children and parents, which can result in feelings of depression.
“I feel strongly that I want to do something to protect others from going through this gut-wrenching situation,” writes the user. “More importantly to stop children from being made to feel so awful, depressed, and guilty through Nintendo’s utter exploitation and refusal to rectify the situation.”
Last year my Nintendo account was hacked and some awful people accessed my Switch account, downloaded Fortnite and spent around £200 in V-Bucks (despite me never playing the game).
I was only made aware of the hacking spending spree as I was notified by PayPal of ‘my’ purchases, which obviously weren’t me. I would have known sooner but my Nintendo receipts were sent to my spam.
Thankfully I was able to get refunded for the money that was stolen, as my account was hacked from the other side of the world. Unlike this parent’s situation, which was a result of a bank card being taken in-house to spend the money.
However despite being quite secure, I could have taken extra security measures to avoid being hacked, so that’s on me.
Since being hacked I have set my Nintendo Switch account to ask for a password every time I visit the eShop and a further password is required to make purchases.
I have also set up a two-step verification app and I’ve removed PayPal from my Switch account. So if I want to make purchases I buy credit from a retailer that I trust.
Unfortunately sometimes you can take all the steps in the world but sh*t happens. If you’re unsure how to set-up parental controls on any device, here is some helpful info.
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