Israeli Boy Purchases $4600 in Apple in-Store Apps to Parent’s iPhone
by Zach Pontz
An 8-year-old Israeli boy undoubtedly spent his Monday boasting to friends of his fortunate weekend. That’s because he spent roughly $4,600 on in-game purchases from the Apple App Store on his parents’ iPhone, Israel’s Channel 2 reported Monday.
The boy’s parents aren’t without fault for it either, as he had already made a similar large purchase when in a prior incident he spent roughly $540 on in-game purchases to one of their phones.
“He didn’t understand that it cost money,” his mother told Channel 2, noting that at his age, he could not tell the difference between real money and the animated money, diamonds and other forms of capital in the games he was playing.
In the first instance Apple accommodated the couple’s wishes that the debt be erased. Then the couple changed their phone passwords. But it didn’t end there. According to the report, the boy saw his parents entering their new passwords and when the opportunity was ripe, he struck. Amazingly, the sum was connected to only five games, all free for the initial download but each with extension packages and in-app purchases that caused the total amount to skyrocket.
This time Apple was not quite as accommodating, telling the boy’s parents that the sale was final, though the family is still holding out hope that Apple will refund the purchases.