A teenage Fortnite fan has been caught after spending nearly $20,000 of their parents' savings on Twitch.
Twitch is a free-to-watch platform that allows viewers to watch their favorite streamers' content without paying a single cent. However, for those loyal and dedicated fans who're passionate about their favorite streamers, the platform has a number of different options to give back to broadcasters. Options include donating, subscribing, and purchasing bits. With average subscription costs ranging anywhere from $4.99-$24.99 a month (depending on the tier), it isn't completely unheard of for fans to rack up a hefty credit card bill on Twitch.
Unfortunately, one teenager had a bit too much fun supporting their favorite streamers and ended up incurring a $20,000 charge on their parent's debit card.
The distraught mother of the child in question posted her story on the Twitch subreddit a few days ago, detailing what had gone down. According to her post, her child spent $20K over the course of only seventeen days. "Years of savings gone", the mother wrote. She then went on to ask Reddit for advice on how to possibly get her money back.
The mother was also interviewed by Dot Esports, where she went into further detail about the incident. Apparently, her son had spent $19,870.94 from June 14 to 30 to support popular Twitch streamers like Tfue, Gorb, and Ewokttv. The money also went to Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kurt Benkert and Miami Heat’s Meyers Leonard, who are also on the platform.
When asked to describe her reaction to finding out her bank accounts had nearly been cleared, the mother said, "my lips started to tingle and I had to put my head down so I wouldn’t pass out. I cried at first. I didn’t believe he could’ve done this.” She went on to describe her son's reaction as "shocked" when she confronted him; he had no idea he had spent so much money on Twitch.
The mother had given her son a debit card to pay for necessary expenses, like school lunches. However, he soon began transferring money from his mother's account to his debit card so he could continue supporting his favorite Twitch streamers. According to the mother, she believes her son could have seen her password while she was transferring money into his accounts.
Since confronting her son, the mother has frozen her bank accounts and canceled her son's debit card. She's attempted contacting Twitch and Amazon, though has not had much success getting a helpful response from either platform. She's even reached out to the five streamers who her son had been donating to. Benkert and Leonard are the only two who have responded so far.
Source: Dot Esports