Anonymous wrote:I think it’s fake. Why would someone be buying her baby formula with gambling money? If that was your only money maybe he did you a favor, get off the gambling sites. You can’t afford to lose.

What are you talking about? Are you drunk?

Was it the Fortnite pedal pass?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped reading when you said you let your 9 year old play Fortnite.

Really? Not here? “ He stole my husband and I’s password ”

How does anyone even think this is remotely correct. Would someone say “He stole I password?” This is just the height of stupidity, right up there with giving a 9 yr old unsupervised access to online gaming.

JFC you are insufferable. Respond to the content of the post or else just move on. I am a DP and you look a petty fool for obsessing over grammar when there are plenty of valid counterpoints to make about the actual content of her comment. That kind of behavior is just as ignorant as using improper grammar.

OP, so sorry to hear. Of course you’re stressed and disappointed.

As others have mentioned, your first step is to contact the gaming company regarding unauthorized purchases.

Change your passwords again. Use a password manager with an authenticator. LastPass is fairly simple and inexpensive, but there are others. Don’t rely on Apple keychain, as your child might have access to your passwords on devices he uses.

Use your internet service provider and/or router to limit data to devices your child uses. For example, if you have an Eero mesh router, you can use an app on a mobile device to set limits for each internet-enabled device in your household. Controls have gotten much easier to use; it’s usually just a matter of logging in to your administrator account.

New rule regarding devices: Your child can only use them while supervised in public areas of the house for certain times of the day. The iPad never goes to the bedroom at night. In between uses, it should be in sight on a charging dock or literally locked away. Just be sure to keep the lockbox key on your person so your child can’t grab it.

Even if you get a refund, make a chore chart with dollar values attached to each chore. Making the bed might be $3, emptying the dishwasher $5, replacing the garbage bag after trash night might be $2, etc. Your kid can keep doing chores until he “pays off” all $3k. That will serve as a consequence while also developing a sense that money has value which is attached to work.

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s fake. Why would someone be buying her baby formula with gambling money? If that was your only money maybe he did you a favor, get off the gambling sites. You can’t afford to lose.

I think it’s fake because DCUM only EBF until around 5.

Anonymous wrote:I stopped reading when you said you let your 9 year old play Fortnite.

Really? Not here? “ He stole my husband and I’s password ”

How does anyone even think this is remotely correct. Would someone say “He stole I password?” This is just the height of stupidity, right up there with giving a 9 yr old unsupervised access to online gaming.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to immediately contact Epic Games, explain that the purchases were unauthorized, and request a refund.

Obviously, your child needs a serious consequence, including shutting down the Fortnite account. But your kid does not understand what $3,000 is or how it would impact family safety/security.

Agree with this. He probably doesn't completely understand the gravity of what he did. But he should absolutely not have access to a computer unmonitored anymore and he definitely shouldn't still have gaming accounts. You and your husband also need to lock down your passwords better.

What? You're not raising your kids right if they get to 9 years old and don't realize that stealing is not OK. If this happened over a period of time, they kid might not have counted how much money left the account, but the mere concept of paying money for something online only with parent authorization should have been ingrained a long time ago.

From OP's description, it really sounds as if her oldest is missing a huge chunk of ethics they should already master. This concerns me. The kid seems almost sociopathic, in that he doesn't care who he hurts or what the consequences are. Maybe a psychological evaluation is in order.

This isn’t really stealing. He entered a password. Not sure a 9 year old is making the connection that it’s actual money and not Monopoly money

Yeah I'm not sure a 9yo would really make that connection either.

For those saying no internet at all, no online gaming, etc., I'm curious if a) your kids attend public schools (PSA- they can access way more on their school-issued chromebooks than you think!) and b) if you have boys in that age group. I was truly unprepared for boy gaming culture. I hate it, but pretending it doesn't exist and just forbidding games altogether won't make it go away.

Lots of 9 year olds do online gaming. Those of you saying he never should have been on it are being clueless.
I agree he should lose access to gaming as a consequence though at least through the summer.

Anonymous wrote:My 9 year old stole over $3k on online gaming purchases. He stole my husband and I’s password in order to make purchases and I’m just exhausted/defeated. He didn’t stop because it was wrong, he stopped because there was no money left/was getting declined. I have a newborn baby less than 6 weeks old that relies on formula and we can’t even get that because this kid who’s not that little (fully understood what he was doing), decided three thousand dollars worth of fortnite skins was more important. This is not the first time either! We changed our password and he stole it and money again. What do you do in this situation?

1) uninstall fortnite from your computers/profiles
2) remove your credit card from any game with potential for in-app purchases. if not, there's probably some fine print where you consented to your kid's purchases.
3) make sure your email address is listed for these gaming sites--i don't understand how you didn't get email verifications of a purchase each time your credit card was used.
4) did he steal $3k in a single month? make sure you check your credit card bills regularly.

Wow.

No more devices for this kid. Period.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped reading when you said you let your 9 year old play Fortnite.

I stopped at "husband and I's"

I guess you’re better than us?

yes

I think it’s fake. Why would someone be buying her baby formula with gambling money? If that was your only money maybe he did you a favor, get off the gambling sites. You can’t afford to lose.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped reading when you said you let your 9 year old play Fortnite.

I stopped at "husband and I's"

I guess you’re better than us?

Are you guys low lives dumb or both?