Mum issues warning after son spends over $800 on Roblox

A mum has issued a warning to other parents after her son made $800 (£662) worth of Roblox purchases.

Mum-of-four Kayla Howard, from Phoenix, US, gives her children a $10 Roblox allowance once they've finished their weekly chores - so she was stunned when she saw one bill which totalled $800.

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"This is the first time that it happened," Howard told Good Morning America. "My kids collectively have been playing Roblox for three years so I'm like, this is the first time that I've ever made a purchase this big. So obviously it's a red flag if you see like $10 here, $10 there, and then this huge purchase."

Howard reached out to both Google Play and online gaming platform Roblox, and also set up an online fundraiser to help. She has since heard back from Roblox about the issue.

Kayla Howard/12News

The company has now offered to refund all the purchases.

The mum has also said she is helping her little one learn from what happened.

"I am teaching him that his actions do have consequences and I think now because he's not able to play on his computer for a while, he is making the connection between making unauthorized purchases and losing access to computer privileges," she said.

"He's seven and he can only understand it at his developmental level," she continued, adding that her son has autism.

"But I do think that he's starting to understand, 'OK, I need to refrain from doing these things'. And it's been a lesson for me too, as well."

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Howard says she's since heard from other parents who have unfortunately experienced similar on gaming platforms. She's hoping parents will learn from her experience and is advising them to use Roblox gift cards, rather than a linked debit card.

"I definitely advise parents to not link their debit cards... to these games because all it takes is one simple click and something like this can happen," she said.

It's not the first time linking a card up to a gaming account has caused some problems.

Last week, an uncle shared the harsh lesson he had taught on his nephew after the 10-year-old repeatedly used his grandma’s credit card to make Fortnite purchases.

The boy managed to spend $300 (£245) on his grandma’s card before his uncle decided to take action.

Knowing that his mum would never demand the cash back herself, he decided that on every birthday and Christmas he would give the money he’d usually spend on a gift for his nephew to his mum until the debt was repaid.