Facebook Let Kids Rack Up Charges on Parents' Credit Cards

Post by justtopost » Sat, Jan 26, 2019, 1:41 PM UTC

emiliobumachar wrote: post #87

dylan604 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much of this is the result of parents allowing children to play games unattended with games they themselves have not played to vet? With all things parenting, it ultimately falls on their shoulders on what they allow their kids to do. Not shilling for the slime balls preying on kids knowing parents are lazy, but parents are not blameless.

I vet all of my kid's games, but this particular pattern was not a deal-breaker for me. However, I've set my Google Play Store to require a password for each purchase. When my kid gets confused, he gets negative feedback in the form of a frustrating dead-end. Hopefully that'll help learning.

Post by tinus_hn » Sat, Jan 26, 2019, 1:45 PM UTC

a12432 wrote: post #115

colejohnson66 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Single use cards like privacy.com provides might be the solution you’re looking for

AMEX is what provides that solution, and fine the merchant as a bonus. It's called disputing a charge. Other cards have the option too, but AMEX will fight for you the most. I've literally had merchants issue a partial refund, disputed the original charge, and ended up with bonus money, multiple times. There is a cost to using credit cards. One of the main reasons to use them is this protection against bad actors, an…

Post by tinus_hn » Sat, Jan 26, 2019, 1:48 PM UTC

sjg007 wrote: post #72

leereeves wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “It doesn’t necessarily look like ‘real’ money to a minor,” This is intentional. In many games, some things cost "gold" earned by playing the game, and others cost "gems" bought with real money. Or maybe "gold" is the one that costs real money. It's designed to be confusing and hide the distinction between in-game points and real money. At some point the game companies should bear some of the responsibility for dec…

I wish Apple would crack down on this. Especially annoying are the games that let you pay to remove ads but then force you to watch a video ad (or buy real money gems) to get another play. So I paid to remove ads but I still get ads. And all of these in app purchases and ads are a really frustrating experience for games that would otherwise be fun. Not to mention they've all effectively turned into pay to play with a…

Post by justtopost » Sat, Jan 26, 2019, 1:52 PM UTC

empath75 wrote: post #114

microcolonel wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The fact is many of these ongoing payments, and the use of separate game currencies rather than simple $1.99 are deliberately unclear, even to fully clued up adults. That's rather the whole point of them. Well, so are amusement park tickets. That doesn't mean you are absolved of responsibility for controlling your cash when you go to an amusement park.

If your toddler tried to use your credit card at an amusement park to buy $500 worth of cotton candy I imagine the person at the counter would not process it.

Post by slfnflctd » Sat, Jan 26, 2019, 1:57 PM UTC

PavlovsCat wrote: post #112

dylan604 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much of this is the result of parents allowing children to play games unattended with games they themselves have not played to vet? With all things parenting, it ultimately falls on their shoulders on what they allow their kids to do. Not shilling for the slime balls preying on kids knowing parents are lazy, but parents are not blameless.

> How much of this is the result of parents allowing children to play games unattended with games they themselves have not played to vet? None of it. You can try it. You can have a million parents leave a million children alone for most of the day, and not even a bitmap image of one cartoon coin or anything will magically be created, much less the code and distribution channels for a whole game. It doesn't make exist…