Facebook Games Are Not Always Free To Play

Moderator Join date : 2009-11-30 Age : 45

Ahh I read this article, too, and was shocked. I'm pretty careful to hide my credit cards and such so others can't get access to them. I don't have any kids but I do have other family members living in our house and all. I trust them but you just never know so I keep such valuable resources well-hidden.

FB games are pretty good to play and a good deal, especially if one can't afford to buy downloaded games or whatnot nowadays. But yeah, the extra charges for the perks are usually there in those games so one always has to be careful about those.

Admin Join date : 2009-11-26 Age : 50

Oh my! I have not played the FB games. I have an account but am lucky to have time to check it maybe once a week. People have sent me the little animals from farmville as gifts though. I just haven't clicked through to the game.

My kids all have FB accounts, even the ones who are under 13, just because their friends are on there. I have seen my kids playing DD on FB...and I think I better check into the games a little more actively. lol

MOD. Join date : 2009-12-01 Age : 62

According to an article in The Guardian this morning, a 12 year old boy in the UK made more than £900 worth of in-game purchases in FarmVille last month. The child did so without his mother’s knowledge, combining £288 of his own savings with £625 worth of credit on his mother’s credit card to make the purchases. For those of you reading this in the US, that’s nearly $1400.

“The first use of my card was on 14 March,” said the boy’s mother, who wishes to remain anonymous. “I discovered it on the 29th and the card was stopped at that point. Any transactions after that date were already in the system, so what I thought was a £427 spend turned into £625 over the next few days.”

Given that the card was her responsibility, neither Zynga nor her credit card company will refund the money. When confronted about the incident, her son admitted guilt and explained it was because “they had brought out good stuff that I wanted.” HSBC, the mother’s credit card company, said it would consider refunding the balance if she decided to file criminal charges against her son. “Obviously the idea of a stupid farm simulation jeopardising his future earnings is not something that I want to consider,” she said.

Facebook has since removed the child’s account. Whether this was at the behest of the mother or simply because he has violated the age rules of Facebook (13 and older only) remains unclear. Either way, consider this a lesson learned about the dangers of “free” Facebook games and the errant ways of youth.

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