Four children spent nearly £550 in three weeks buying player packs to play the Fifa football video game online on the family’s Nintendo Switch console.
In Fifa, special players can be bought in packs, but the contents are only revealed after payment is completed. The children’s father, Thomas Carter, had bought them a single pack for around £8, and had not realised they had seen how he made the purchase. The Switch has now been confiscated “indefinitely”, Mr Carter said. Nintendo has agreed to a full refund and has removed the purchased players.
“I just never thought the children would do it,” Mr Carter said.
How to activate spending controls
Some devices are more complicated than others, here’s a quick (and not exhaustive) guide:
- On the Xbox One: select the Xbox symbol button on the controller. Go to the Systems menu, then follow the pathway settings/account/sign-in, security and passkey. Select “change my sign-in”, scroll right to “customise” then “ask for my passkey to make purchases”.
- On the Nintendo Switch: log-in using the parental account, click “family group” and select each family member’s log-in that you wish to restrict. Click “restrict spending in Nintendo e-shop” to disable purchasing and hit save.
- On an iPhone or iPad: activate Screen Time on the device. You will need to set up a separate parent passcode. Then go to Content and Privacy Restrictions, activate “content and privacy”, go to iTunes and App Store Purchases and set to “don’t allow”.
- On the PS4: you must set up a separate account for your child. The monthly spending limit is automatically set at zero. Sony says it will not refund purchases made from adult accounts.
