Left-behind son, 12, spends nearly 30,000 yuan from mum’s bank account on virtual gifts for online gaming hosts
Website in Guangzhou says it’s aware of transaction and has promised a full refund to boy’s migrant worker parents
A broadcasting website in Guangzhou, southern China, has promised to refund the parents of a 12-year-old boy who paid tens of thousands of yuan from his mother’s bank account for virtual gaming gifts for the online anchors, a local media website reports.
The mother of the boy, identified as Lin from a county near Fuzhou in neighbouring Fujian province, was shocked to discover on Wednesday that a total of 28,600 yuan (HK$34,300) had been transferred from her account to an internet company in Guangzhou since last month, Mnw.cn, the news portal of the Fujian Daily, reported.
He taught me to play online games, so I sent him the gift ... We were like teacher and student.
After a grilling from the mother, Lin admitted that he used her mobile phone to buy the virtual gifts to online anchors – as the hosts are called – at Huya.com, an online platform for video games where internet users can interact with the young hosts.
Lin said that the gifts were sent to anchors who helped him with the online games. The gifts included an order with 4,999 yuan for “virtual weapons” used in the games.
Web anchors, who normally interact with fans through online live videos, have become extremely popular on the mainland and online games are a thriving business, especially among young men with a bit of cash to burn.
“He taught me to play online games, so I sent him the gift,” Lin said. “We were like teacher and student.”
Lawyers said the boy was too young to spend such a large sum of money by his own and the website said they also tracked the transaction and would refund the money.
Lin’s father said the boy was raised by the grandparents while he and the mother worked in the city. Social workers said that migrant worker parents need to have closer interaction with their stay behind child, especially those entering adolescence.
