Parents with children who enjoy Twitch: beware!
Twitch, the platform that allows users to stream themselves playing video games, and allows others to watch, lets people contribute donations, called "bits", to streamers to help keep their channels running.
One mother discovered that her teenage son was an avid Twitch user, particularly for the video game Fortnite, and racked up several of these donations over a two-week period.
He was given a debit card attached to his mom's account to purchase school lunches and smaller necessities, but used it for Twitch "bits" as well. Unfortunately, this teenanger didn't know that these "bits" actually cost real money, and WAY unfortunately for his mother, over that two-week period he spent nearly $20,000 in donations! The mom told Dot Esports, "When I saw the bank balances were almost gone, my lips started to tingle and I had to put my head down so I wouldn’t pass out. I cried at first. I didn’t believe he could’ve done this.”
While the mom contacted her bank about the charges, not a lot could be done because according to them, this is a case of "friendly fraud," and the money couldn't be recouped unless she pressed charges on her son. She is now in the process of contacting Twitch, parent company Amazon, and the five streamers her son donated to about recouping the donations.
Via Dot Esports
