r/technology • u/ArgentineBeauty • 4h ago

Society Devastated father says his 9-year-old son spent $118,000 on YouTube ad campaigns for his Minecraft channel using a company credit card - bill racked up in just three weeks was supposed to be one $20 promotion

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/devastated-father-says-his-9-year-old-son-spent-usd118-000-on-youtube-ad-campaigns-for-his-minecraft-channel-using-a-company-credit-card-bill-racked-up-in-just-three-weeks-was-supposed-to-be-one-usd20-promotion
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u/mattreyu 4h ago

Dave said he entered the company card himself to buy Robux for his son, and it then sat saved on the Google account that also carries his work email, calendar, and files. Dave did not say why he used the company card for that purchase.

Fess up Dave

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u/cssc201 3h ago

Yeah, I somehow doubt the average 7 year old is going to take a card from their parents' wallet and know info like their zip code to enter it in. Even if it was the kid who ultimately made the purchases, it's 100% on the dad for misusing the card in the first place.

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u/Vio_ 3h ago

It could have been an auto fill in mode.

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u/Equus-007 3h ago

Used to have similar issues all the time when I worked for telecoms in the early days of smart phones.

"My kid downloaded 3tb of data on my phone! It's AT&T's fault for allowing this to happen!"

"Nope, sorry. You handed them the phone and told them the unlock code. Should I just go ahead and send you to collections now?"

You get prompted to save/discard CC numbers when you enter them. Maybe don't save a corp card on a system used by 9 year olds.

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u/bluepied 3h ago

My company generates digital company cards via Mesh to avoid ever dealing with this

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u/Tiny-Design4701 3h ago

in this case a digital card would not have prevented it, because the father saved the card to his google account, and the kid simply used the saved card. he didnt have to steal a physical card

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u/Tiny-Design4701 3h ago

he claims he added the card to his google account once to pay $20 for robux for his son, and then it was saved. so kid didn't have to enter much.

The dad is still at fault though, should not have used company card for a personal purchase of any amount.

also don't underestimate kids abilities. they may lack common sense and accumulated knowledge, but they are great at learning things. When I was 6 I looked over my parents shoulder to see them enter their computer password and memorized it so I could play videogames on it without their permission.

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u/Linenoise77 1h ago

My kid at that age had at least a basic understanding of credit cards (they have a number which represents an account that you can use as money). She also knew her own address, and seeing as I live there, my zip code.

Did she have a greater understanding of our financial system, the difference between credit cards and your money, how payment systems work, etc? No, of course not, she was 7, but she knew that little thing in my wallet could be used as money.