Nik Ghera, 12 has accidentally accumulated 1,500 pounds bill on the credit card b playing Xbox. The boy thought that he was utilizing game points for his characters’ improvements on games such as Fifa and Call of Duty. However, with every click the boy is actually buying online currency which drains money from the credit card of his father, Sam Ghera.
Due to this, Sam Ghera, from Wolverhampton, West Midland is warning parents about the hidden costs behind console video games after the incident with his son. Sam allowed his son to register the details of his credit card for the 5.99 pounds fee for the monthly subscription at Xbox Live. This will allow his son to play online games with his classmates.
However, without the knowledge of Sam the details of his credit cards were actually stored within the console and Nik, his son used it to purchase Microsoft Points which is a currency used on the Internet allowing gamers to unlock current features for their characters in their favorite video game. Players can access this easily as they are not required to enter an access key or password.
His son thought that the points he use for his characters are earned for killing villains and scoring goals. Nik used these points to enhance his characters in games such as Fifa and CoD. Between December 2011 and June 2012, nik spent 1,250 pounds out of his father’s credit card.
In a single marathon game, he spent 100 pounds that day on extra features and weapons for his characters. Sam Ghera only realized this when he tried to use his credit card in order to withdraw money and he was surprised that his funds are insufficient. Sam was horrified to know that the culprit for the bill was his own son.
Due to that instance, Sam has filed a complaint against the computer industry giant Microsoft, and he demands the company to make their charging policy clear for parents to understand. Sam warns other parents about these hidden charges ad to monitor the accounts of their youngsters on C-Box Live.
Nik claimed that the company knows the problem and that he did not realize that he was utilizing real money from the credit card of his father. Sam, father of Nik stated that an apology from the company would be nice, but he wants Microsoft to solve this problem so that parents can now stop their children from using their credit cards in paying console bills.
Lots of parents have already experienced this problem. A spokesman from Microsoft stated that any purchase made on Xbox LIVE, there are lots of opportunities where clients are asked about the confirmation of their purchase. The cost of their purchase is clearly displayed the entire process on their screen, and that accounts on Xbox LIVE that are registered for youngsters’ use have web activity that defaulted automatically to off.
Microsoft added that they recommend their Xbox LIVE members to follow the account security guide in order to avoid the problem.