Insights for consumers
If you load your card details onto a gaming device, be aware that anyone playing on that device could use your card to pay for in-game purchases.
Stephen saves his card details on his gaming computer
Stephen* loaded his card details onto his gaming computer to pay for in-game purchases. Stephen’s six-year-old son, Flynn, also played games on Stephen’s computer. Flynn did not realise when he bought gems for his game that he was using his father’s money to pay for them.
Stephen finds his son has spent $800 on gaming
After about a month, Stephen checked his account and discovered multiple transactions totalling $800 to pay for gems for Flynn’s game. Stephen tried to reverse the card transactions (charge back) from the gaming provider, but this was declined because Flynn had used the gems in the game.
The gaming provider won’t refund the money, so Stephen asks his card provider for a charge back
Stephen then complained to his card provider, saying they should have noticed more than 100 small withdrawals from his account over the month.
The card provider says they are not liable
The card provider did not consider they were liable for the transactions and declined to reimburse Stephen. Stephen then complained to FSCL.
FSCL seeks a solution on compassionate grounds
We reviewed the complaint and asked the card provider whether they were willing to resolve it on a compassionate basis so it could be resolved early, without the need for a full investigation.
We explained that Stephen was struggling financially and could not afford to buy food.
How was the complaint resolved?
The card provider agreed to reimburse the full amount of Stephen’s transactions on a ‘one-off’ goodwill basis. Stephen was very grateful and accepted the offer. We closed our file.
