X-Box Live!

[karl]

BE WARNED!

A 12-year-old boy accidentally ran up a £1,500 bill while playing Xbox Live - leaving his cash-strapped dad with no choice but to pick up the tab.
Sam Ghera's son Nik thought he was using up game points every time he 'improved' his characters while playing Call of Duty and Fifa.
However, with each click he was actually purchasing an online currency - which was draining money from his dad's account.

Now Sam, from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, wants to warn parents of the hidden costs lurking behind games consoles after he was left with a sky-high credit card bill.
Sam, 48, had allowed Nik register his credit card details to cover the £5.99 monthly subscription fee so he could play X-Box Live with classmates online.
However, unbeknown to Sam, his card details were stored in the machine and his son was able to buy ‘Microsoft Points’ - an online currency which allows players to unlock new features in their favourite games - without having to enter a password.


See link for full story



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2171930/X-Box-Live-Boy-playing-Call-Duty-Fifa-ran-1-150-bill.html#ixzz20LJaYb2b

[tmak621]

Good LORD!!! I have xbox live but I buy stuff with my own money like Microsoft Points or Xbox Live Gold Membership.

This whole story is mind blowing.

[Amnesiac]

Pssht. It's the dad's responsibility to monitor his finances and make sure there aren't any unusual payments on his monthly statements. I don't see why his carelessness should even be in a "news" story (what should I expect from the Daily Mail?), nor why he should expect Microsoft to care. If you're going to give your 12-year-old kid your credit card information, there's no excuse for not monitoring how that money is used. Also, I don't understand how someone could mistake Microsoft Points for "points won in games". In order to purchase Microsoft points, you have to go through a process that clearly states that they are a form of currency and requires you to authorize a charge to your credit card. It's not a deceptive process at all. It just sounds like the kid is trying to cover his own ass by blaming the corporation instead of his own carelessness.

Also, "X-Box"? Are you fucking kidding me?

[DerBear]

Microsoft are one of the most insecure companies when it comes to holding CC information.

A good friend of mine shared his account with a friend and the credit card details were stored on it. He then later used said credit card details that he saw while downloading content to his XBOX to buy things online. Racking up a good bill.

I ain't that much of a fan of Xbox 360. But I do feel certian things like this need to be in place. However I was almost sure I saw a friend buy MS points and it came up warning him. Also you can only buy map packs on COD not weapons.

Overall I find people should be more careful when storing details online.

On PS3 you get an option to turn off automatic funding and its default is off. Perhaps microsoft should have this

ALSO: How did the father not check his statements? I mean seriously. I he must be terrible at keeping track of his finances if after 5-6 he never noticed this shit going on.

[Infidelitas]

Well. This is why I don't play games online.

It's both the Dad's fault and the kids fault. How could they not know?

[OctoG123]

How the hell do you "accidentally" run up a £1,500 bill through micro-transactions? If the kid didn't realise what he was doing at first, he must have figured out that Microsoft Points used IRL money the 30th bloody time he bought them.

[Sugaree]

Well. This is why I don't play games online.

Online gaming, in many instances, is the best form of gaming. If you play Team Fortress 2 and actually have a good team (9 times out of 10, you do), you can have shit tons of fun just playing with other people. Same goes for online strategy games like the "Total War" and "ArmA". Online gaming is surprisingly a lot about wits and advantage most of the time. It's not the gaming that's the problem here, it's the storage of credit card information.

[Solvez18]

how do you not limit credit cards???