A teenage girl stole her mother’s credit card. The young woman from China, who spent an amount equivalent to almost 300,000 lei, was told nothing until a teacher called her parents, who did not expect their daughter to make such expenses.
What did the teenager spend almost 300,000 lei on
Gong Yiwang, the 13-year-old’s mother, only learned the full story at the end of May after receiving a call from a teacher at her daughter’s boarding school who feared she was addicted to pay-to-play games ( pay to play, no).
When she checked her bank account, the student’s mother noticed that she was left with a balance of just seven cents after her daughter spent about $64,000.
She later discovered that from January to May, her daughter spent about $16,800 to buy game accounts and nearly $30,000 on in-game purchases.
In addition, the girl transferred money to at least 10 classmates who wanted to buy game products for themselves, bringing the total cost to about $64,000.
“I never thought a 13-year-old girl could do this. I’m dizzy; I feel like my head is going to explode,” said the student’s mother.
The teenager accused that she was harassed by colleagues for money
The student tearfully said she connected her mother’s debit card to her cellphone but didn’t know where the money was coming from or how much she was spending. She said she remembers her mother telling her the account password at one point when she asked to buy something else.
She also said that her friends at school noticed that she had access to money and bullied her for money. “If I didn’t send them, they would bother me all day. If I told the teacher, I was afraid that he would tell my parents and that they would get upset,” said the student.
The student’s mother said she has contacted several platforms to request refunds, but has yet to recover the full amount.
The entire story went viral in China in late May, when it garnered more than 140 million views on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, according to data seen by Insider.
Gambling addiction among young people in China is so widespread that internet restrictions have been introduced for teenagers and children. Chinese teenagers should not play video games for more than three hours a week, a goal the Chinese government has said it is making steady progress toward.
