Digital Debt Is No Game
12-year-old runs up $1,300 FarmVille debt
A little boy has recently racked up some big debt, playing the extremely popular Facebook game, FarmVille. The game has a function that allows players to buy in-game coins for real-world money and this young farmer managed to run up about a thousand pounds worth of debt on his mother’s credit card. His mother is now hoping that her tale of debt woe will serve as a warning to other parents, to watch what their children get up to on these social networking games.
FarmVille is currently one of the most popular games on Facebook, with well over 80 million users. The idea behind it is that each new farmer is given some virtual funds to start a farm. They then use this funding to grow crops which they can then sell for more pretend money and recycle it into their farm. However, trading on the impetuousness of the average internet user, FarmVille offers the ability to buy extra virtual money with real-life credit.
As the boy lives with his mother, Zynga – the makers of FarmVille – have refused to offer any kind of refund as they feel it is the responsibility of the parent to monitor a child’s online activity and look after their credit card. In addition to this, children under the age of 13 are not permitted onto the social networking site, so Facebook has disabled the boy’s account and refuse to take any responsibility for his actions. Although the woman does blame her son, she feels there should be some portion of the blame laid on Facebook as she feels they weren’t acting responsibly. Ultimately, she feels that her son was using another person’s credit card and that should flag some kind of security. In addition to that, the secure payment filter is bypassed for payments on Facebook.
This case highlights the importance of looking after your credit card, the dangers of online transactions and most clearly, the unique routes into debt that can happen suddenly and without warning. Financial circumstances are subject to unexpected change and this is when bad debt can begin to mount up. Talking to a dedicated financial advisor can help you to react quickly in the event of these unforeseen circumstances, helping you to avoid severe debt problems. The sooner you get in touch with a dedicated debt advisor and tell your creditors about the potential struggle in meeting repayments, the more likely of you are of reaching a mutually beneficial conclusion.
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