Suspect 6Yo Charged over $200 on Nexus 7......can I Do Anything???

Updated on June 18, 2013
C.C. asks from Crown Point, IN
21 answers

Got an email from my credit card compnay about a fraud alert. Apparently a bunch of "suspicious" transactions have been occuring all from Google Kiloo Games/google play or some form of "google". I only purchased 1 game for her that was 6.99 and am thinking my daughter has inadvertenly "bought" a whole bunch of things w/o my knowledge. I already closed my credit card account and requested a new one just in case this isnt the case and someone got a hold of my CC number. If I claim these charges as "fraud" and my credit card comp will remove all the trasactions but if my duaghter did indeed purchase these things then what happens???? Has anyone been in the same situation???

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So What Happened?

I contacted Google via email and they are reimbursing me for all charges!!! They didnt give me any problems whatssoever. Hope this helps others that this happens to - dont just sit back and pay it without at least contacting them and explaining the situation.

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M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

I would not pay it without calling first. Last summer my mom gave my kids her ipad to use (against my wishes) and they played games and ended up running up over $500 without even realizing it. It caused a fight because I told my mom not to give it to them, and she said they could have it and were fine. She called Apple and the credit card company and was able to have the games deleted and the charges removed. Try calling first.

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R.M.

answers from San Francisco on

Call the company. They will often refund you. The games company, I mean, not the credit card company. I have always been refunded by companies in similar situations.

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J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

If your daughter bought them and you report it as fraud they will go after the parent of the kid that bought them, that is still you.

Please for the love of god and all that is sane, don't try to make your credit card company waste their time. You didn't monitor her, you are responsible for that.

If you want your daughter to play with adult toys you need to set the rules which is don't buy things. She knew she was buying them.

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P.G.

answers from Dallas on

Have you contacted Nexus to ask if they will remove the charges? If you can verify that they did get charged by her by accident, then they MAY do it. Ask them how to delete the purchase and see if they can remove the charges. They should be able to. This is a reasonably common issue and I'm sure they've delt with it before.

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M.B.

answers from Tampa on

Well, you kinda dropped the ball by leaving her unsupervised using the device. And you dont have it password protected. You can turn airplane mode on those devices so there's no Internet access. Sorry cough up the charges and don't try to lie to the credit card company.
Added: have you checked her tablet for the apps? If they are on there then she did it, im not sure why its so hard to determine if she did it

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C.B.

answers from San Francisco on

If they find that your daugher made the purchases, you will have to pay for them.

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A.C.

answers from Wichita on

Sorry....not sure what a Nexus 7 is (this from a high tech person). I could google it, but I won't.

Here's what I will say...

A lady I know ran into a situation where her small child inadvertently purchased about $500 worth of items from their iTunes account on their iPad. Of course, she was in a panic about it. She called iTunes, and they gave her no problems about it. They credited her account back, and she was able to change the settings on the device so that it prompts her for a password of sorts before it will allow her to purchase anything.

So, I would try to call the company first and see if there is anything you can do to get the charges removed. I would be polite and very apologetic. It cannot hurt.... See if you can change the settings in the future. Hope this helps!

Add: Okay, couldn't resist...I googled Nexus 7...looks like a tablet. Same advice still applies. :)

Another Add: I've gotta tell you, I do believe in owning up to things, but I'm not sure how many parents realize how very easy it is for things to be inadvertently purchased on tablets. The school that I teacher for went 1-to-1 with iPads this past year, and you would not believe the number of TEENAGERS (who can presumable READ) that had inadvertently purchased things (and this is their own iTunes accounts....the school's accounts are all password protected). The fact that a small child could have potentially purchased $200 worth of things does not surprise me, nor does it happen over a long period of time...this can literally be done in a matter of minutes...on a SUPERVISED game. Come on, Mom's....let's not crucify C. over this. C., I hope you can get something figured out.

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S.A.

answers from Chicago on

I think you're stuck with the charges. Take it as an expensive lesson in remembering to disable anything that your daughter could purchase either knowingly or unknowingly. Those things can be tricky and seem free to kids even if they're not.

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R.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

How did she inadvertently buy a bunch of things? Did you leave her alone to play? Does your daughter know your password or do you not have one?

My guess is she may have known she was purchasing them, even at 6, but never thought of you finding out, because she is 6. If you left your account unprotected, or you don't have a password on it you opened yourself to her buying things. Then they're not truly "fraudulent" charges and I wouldn't dispute them. Ask your daughter to show you what she did, and never let her have unsupervised access to her game.

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E.A.

answers from Erie on

I doubt they will refund your money. My kids accidentally left my bank account info on our Playstsation account when they bought a game, and then gave their password to play that game to another kid who then bought a game for himself. grrr.... Anyhoo, they said they would look into it, but the people at playstation won't refund me. Sometimes mistakes are expensive.

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Okay, just to let you know, MANY of the kiddie games/apps that kids play on tablets.... costs money. Real, money. In order to upgrade or get more "stuff" or tokens or characters for the games/apps.
But a kid does not know this. They click "yes" and then they get more stuff for their game/app. Then, you the parent, gets the bill for it.
Therefore, you have to set up your account etc., with a password etc., so that the kiddos CANNOT, just "buy" things themselves.
And you have to supervise them and teach them... about this stuff.

When my son was about 4, he "bought" more do-dads for his app. On our iPad. He did not know... it was "real" money. He thought that by clicking "yes" he was just buying it with the pretend tokens on his game, which he thought he had accrued/earned by playing the different levels of it. But no, it was REAL money. And my Husband got a bill for it. It was like $70.
So then, we realized, that MANY MANY MANY of the kiddie games/apps.... ALSO have on it, a pop-up screen to buy more do-dads for their games. BUT it is real, money. And the games/apps make it so "easy" for kids to do this. It just looks like they are playing, their game. Many games have on it, pretend "coins" that they get, OR, they can "buy" stuff for real. On it.

But sure, it can also be fraudulent use of your credit card, by someone you don't even know etc.
Ask your child... did he... "buy" anything via his apps/games on the tablet????/ A kid doesn't know, off hand. But so now, both my kids are very aware of those sneaky things on games & apps, that are to buy things with real money. Even for me as an adult, some of those click on things in games, are very deceiving. You gotta READ it carefully. Or you will be paying with real money.

And teach your kids they CANNOT, buy anything without your permission. AND you teach them, how to use it. By doing it, WITH them.
You gotta know... what apps/games your kid has. And you need to know how to play it TOO... so you are full aware of its parameters.
Some games are real money. Some are not.

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R.X.

answers from Houston on

Pay it. If she is mature enough to manuver the technology of the system, she can read and understand the three letter word, 'buy'.

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J.O.

answers from Boise on

The first step would be to ask your DD, at 6 she'd know whether or not she bought something. Look at the tablet also cause that you tell you if she has.

If it was your DD, sorry pay it and make sure for future use to use parental controls.

If she didn't then fight them on it.

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C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

C.:

if they can prove the device is yours, and the charges came from your device? You will be held responsible.

Why not ask your daughter if she has been buying things and not asking you?

You should be able to get detailed purchase receipts from the credit card company - date and time of purchase - etc.

I would wait to claim fraud until you get a detailed list of the purchases as well as talk to your daughter...

Good luck!

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E.T.

answers from Albuquerque on

Please don't report this as fraud. See if it's purchases from games your daughter plays. If yes, then she probably bought stuff without realizing it. You can still call the gaming company and ask if they'll refund the charges because it was a mistake.

As you've already realized, you need to password protect your tablet! And probably teach your daughter what's safe to click on and what is not.

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☼.S.

answers from San Diego on

It's not fraud, though, is it? Call google, tell them the situation, and see if they are sympathetic. Definitely not the first time this has happened w/ Google play, I'm sure.

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R.M.

answers from Washington DC on

If it was your daughter then sadly you are stuck paying those fees. Look at the tablet, if she is the one who purchased those things, they are on it. If not, someone used your card without permission.

I would talk to Google if she did do it and maybe they can work something out. It happens all the time. You may be stuck with those fees so be prepared. You should always have a password on those things.

When my son was 4 years old he figured out how to order movies from the cable from watching me do it. One day he started at B and ordered a ton of movies! Not all of them were appropriate either. He couldn't read the titles but he could order them! Imagine my displeasure when the bill came. :) He didn't watch them all either, it was his way of finding one he did want to watch!

He is 6 now and if it doesn't have a password he WILL order it.

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H.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

I knew a woman who's son did something similar. She talked to the credit card company and they had mercy on her. Good luck

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C.T.

answers from Chicago on

Gather all of your statements and find all of the charges. They will definitely reimburse you for these "purchases." They will also walk you through how to set your settings so it won't happen again. It's crazy - I approved a "free" game for my kids and within 5 minutes was charged a couple hundred dollars from the add-ons inside the game (some were over $20 a piece). It's crazy and should honestly be illegal! Mine was on our ipad and apple reimbursed us for every charge. They did say they would only do it once so it was important that I had all of the history. Mine was done all online through apple's website ichat. Go get your money back!

C.T.

answers from Santa Fe on

Call the company and tell them your very young child was pressing buttons and you do not want to buy these things. Don't forget to go into your settings and set it so that she cannot accidentally buy things in the future. You have to do this for each app you put on your phone/ipod.

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P.K.

answers from New York on

Does she know your password? I would change that.

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