A parent's worst nightmare, having your son shell out thousands of dollars for a video game. Yes that's right, it's one of those times where agreeing to have your credit card used by your kid seems to be a really bad idea.
The son of Lance Perkins, a Canadian teenager spent around $8,000 on Xbox One's game hit FIFA last Monday. His 17-year old son apparently blew $7,625.88 for a FIFA soccer game, undoubtedly FIFA 16. He was apparently given access to the family's credit card for emergencies or to make those quick trips for the family's convenience store but instead used the card to purchase goodies from for FIFA Ultimate Team.
The son was given a credit card for "emergencies or to make purchases for the family's convenience store," but was instead used it to make several pages worth of transactions for FIFA Ultimate Team. FIFA 16 allows owners of the game to buy player packs using in-game FIFA Points earned or purchased with actual money via FIFA Ultimate Team game mode. They will then be able to compete online, spending as little as $0.99, or as much as $99.99 for player cards.
It is hard to understand how the teenager pulled it off though. Each purchase transaction in Xbox one needs confirmation before processing. So it is unclear how Perkin's son thought it was a one-time fee for the several transactions he performed using the card. The credit card company is unable to fix it unless he decides to charge his son with fraud. They would have to contact Electronic Arts at this point to sort things out.
You can prevent this from happening to you. Protect yourself from having your bank or credit card drained by unnecessary video game purchases.
For All Consoles
Buy prepaid cards instead of attaching a credit card to your PlayStation Network, Xbox LIVE, or Nintendo Network account. All major retailers always keep those cards handy for young kids who wish to top-up their accounts. Here are some advanced steps you can use to further secure your account. Take note: If you have difficulty understanding the steps below, ask a tech savvy adult to do it for you.
Xbox One
Parents can choose to create their own free Xbox LIVE accounts and create one for their kids as well. You may choose to add them to you Family account. Once added, you can manage the settings of that account. Go to Xbox.com, log into your account, choose "Xbox Settings" from the drop down menu on your profile name. You can then see your account and your child's account. From "Buy and download" choose "Only Free", this option disables paid games and only allows the account to download free-to-play games and demos, or you could also pick "Nothing", so that they cannot download at all. Choosing "Anything" allows your child access to buy anything with your card and as the article implies, not really a good idea. Hit "Save" and your credit card is safe and secure.
PlayStation 4
The Playstation 4 shares the same principle as the Xbox one. Parents can create a master account and a sub account for their kid. Sub accounts can be created by going to settings and selecting "Parental Controls". Once in, go to "Sub Account Management" and "Create New Sub Account." You can choose to "Monthly Spending Limit" and set it to zero to disable any purchases on the PlayStation Store. This option can also be done under the "Sub Account Management" menu.
Wii U
No need to create a parent or master account on this one. Just select the "Wii U Parental Controls" option on the Wii U Controller screen, create a four-digit pin, select "Wii U Shopping Services" and manage the use of credit cards on the Nintendo eShop.