A 12-year-old boy spent all the money that was raised by his relatives to pay his father’s cancer treatment bills on video game for cell phones. The minor mistakenly stole everything donated by his relatives in microtransactions for titles of mobile devices.
As pointed out by the South China Morning Postthe boy surnamed Huang, who lives in Fushun county in Sichuan province in southwest China. China, spent the sum of 3,800 yen – regarding US $ 560 at the exchange rate – last July. The minor would have used this amount in video games of the Mi Game Centre of Xiaomiplatform of the Chinese firm dedicated to the distribution of titles for mobile phones.
An accident related to video games
The theft of money occurred during a visit by the boy to the hospital where his father, who was a patient with brain cancer in advanced stage. Due to the modest economic situation of the family, the doctors opted for a conservative and less expensive treatment. After knowing the diagnosis, all the relatives of Huang Zhengxiang -name of the minor’s father- collaborated to obtain the necessary money for the treatment and it was deposited in the man’s account.
According to what the local media details, the boy borrowed his father’s cell phone and spent all the money that was in his bank account by letting himself be carried away by the video game banners of the Mi Game Centre. The family noted the absence of money when Huang Sr. passed away in late July as one of his brothers went to the hospital to pay the bills.
Upon discovering what happened and raising more money to pay the debts with the hospital, the minor’s uncle asked the Chinese firm to return the money, but Xiaomi he didn’t believe him at first. After the case was made public and a journalist found out what had happened, the company agreed to reimburse all the money spent by the child.
“I feel sorry for my father and I feel sorry for the relatives who helped my father”said the little Huang 12 years old, who also said he felt remorseful and guilty of his actions. After the death of his father, the sole breadwinner for his family, he and his 15-year-old brother were placed in an orphanage.
A more common practice than it seems
Although the fact is tragic due to the sensitive death of the father, the truth is that there are several cases of children who use -by mistake or knowingly- the money of their parents or guardians to make micropayments in video game for mobile. In the past, an 11-year-old boy in Mongolia logged in to his father’s WeChat account to play a title distributed by Tencent and spent 20,000 yuan ($3,000) on prepaid cards for the game.
After the case was made public on a television network in that country, Tencent agreed to return the money to the minor’s father.
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