5 year old spends $2,500 on in-game purchases in just ten minutes

5 year old Danny Kitchen was playing with his parent's Apple iPad when he asked them for their iTunes password. Danny wanted to download a free game called Zombie v Ninja. Danny's parents typed in the password and thought nothing of it since the download was free. But imagine the surprise and horror that they felt when emails started coming in showing that Danny had spent the equivalent of $2,500 in just 10 minutes, making in-game purchases of keys and weapon packs that were priced in $100 bundles.

While Apple did agree to refund the money, Danny did not get off the hook. When asked how he felt about the whole affair, he said, "I was worried and I felt sad." Danny also added, "I'm banned from the iPad now."

So how did a 5 year old rack up such an expensive bill in just 10 minutes? He purchased one bundle of 333 keys, one of 90,000 darts, and another of 333 bombs that each cost 69.99 GBP ($105 USD). A number of smaller purchases added up to the final total.

To avoid something like this happening to you, it is always best to go through the concept of in-app or in-game purchases with your young kids before you hand over your tablet or smartphone to them. Otherwise, you too can find yourself not in Hell's Kitchen, but in Kitchen's Hell.

source: BBC, Guardian via Gizmodo