The mobile games industry has been on the rise, with several games such as Mobile Legends and Roblox gaining millions of players.

Girl, 5, spent S$1,480 on Roblox in-app purchases

However, with microtransactions becoming increasingly frictionless, a five-year-old girl in Singapore somehow managed to spend nearly S$1,500 on a single game in one month, shocking her mother when the bill came in.

Wang, a single mother in her 30s, told Lianhe Wanbao that she was left speechless by her StarHub bill of S$1,480 for the month of June, thinking that it must have been a mistake at first.

However, she discovered over 200 transactions from popular mobile game Roblox on her five-year-old daughter's iPad, with purchases ranging from S$5 to S$8 each.

Roblox is a free-to-play online game platform with in-game purchases available through a virtual currency called "Robux". The online multiplayer game, which has attracted over 164 million players across the world, is popular among children and teens below 16.

Wang thought that she had already "child-proofed" the iPad, pointing out that she had not linked any credit card information in the iPad and did not install a SIM card either, so that her daughter could only play the game when connected to the Wi-Fi at home.

No verification prompts preventing child from buying in-game items

"My daughter has no clue what was happening either. She simply clicked the 'purchase' button, and the transaction was made successfully," she told the Chinese daily. Wang added that her daughter was unaware that she had spent this much money.

Showing the Chinese daily what her daughter had spent, the transactions were made in exchange for in-game currency, which can be used to buy things such as virtual pets and renovating one's virtual home.

Referring to how verification is usually required when she helps her domestic helper top up credits for her mobile phone line to call home, Wang couldn't fathom why there was no verification required or any sort of prompt before her daughter's transactions went through.

"I've called to ask Apple's customer service and support, but I still can't figure out where the problem lies," Wong said.

She hopes that other parents, through her experience, will take greater caution of their children's online spending habits.

How to prevent accidental in-app purchases

To prevent accidental in-app purchases, users can set a password requirement for all in-app purchases.

Apple users can disable in-app purchases for their children's devices and instead enable "Ask To Buy" function to screen and approve their purchase requests.

If the device is shared between the owner and children, a password requirement for every purchase is recommended.

Android users can set a requirement for authentication for every in-app purchase from in-store settings.

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Top image via Julia Yeo, Google Play Store