A local mom is sharing her story, after her young daughter managed to spend thousands of dollars in an iPhone game.
“I’m baffled, I’m bewildered as to how this happened,” Corinna Spaziani said.
Spaziani said over a few weeks earlier this year, her 10-year-old daughter Giorgia spent more than $4,800 on a game.
Giorgia was playing a game called My Talking Hank. The game is free to download, but players can pay for virtual currency in order to advance more quickly.
In this case, Giorgia bought lots and lots of virtual diamonds for the game – spending the money over a few weeks between late January and late February 2018.
Spaziani said she believed in order to make in-app purchases, her own fingerprint would have to be used to authorize it. However, at some point, the phone started accepting her daughter’s fingerprint.
“Her thumbprint is supposed to unlock the screen, but somehow she used it to bypass these in-app purchases,” Spaziani said.
“She doesn’t know how she did it. I don’t know if it’s a glitch in the system, I’m thinking it is.”
The App Store sends a receipt for each purchase through email, but Spaziani said they ended up in her spam folder.
“So I immediately just dismissed them,” Spaziani said.
“I feel like a fool, really I do.”
The mom has pursued a refund from Apple – the company issued this statement:
“After carefully reviewing your case, we’ve determined that your purchase doesn’t meet the conditions for a refund.”
Now, Spaziani hopes her story serves as a warning for other parents.
“I just want parents to be aware,” she said. “To make sure they have everything set up. I thought I did, and I didn’t.”
Giorgia has repaid her mom $50 in birthday money, and is no longer allowed to play the game. She also doesn’t have clearance to use Touch ID on the device and in-app purchases have been turned off.
CTV News reached out to Apple but a spokesperson told us they wouldn’t comment on this matter.
With files from Dan Grummett
