Sheffield mum issues warning after son spends £1000 on ‘addictive’ mobile game

Karen Littlewood of Lodgemoor said her 13-year-old was fixated on a popular mobile game 'Roblox' for a few years but his addiction worsened during the lockdown.

The 36-year-old full time mum said: "He doesn't speak to me about it but he said he wanted people to like him.

"In total he'd spent about £1000 on Roblox (in-app purchases). I tried to complain but they kept bringing me to the other sites.

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"I'd just like to tell parents out there because during lockdown; it's just going to get worse as children are inside most of the time.

"He got so addicted he wouldn't even look after himself anymore. He's lost a lot of weight as well."

She said she was not notified of her son's shopping spree as she only received the bills at the end of the month.

"I did not realise that the phone provider linked my card to the game. It's weird there was no spending limit on the phone.

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"It didn't even send me anything, no notification at all," she said, adding she has now banned her son from playing the game.

"I have also set a screen time limit on his phone and set his spending limit to zero," she said.

Karen said her son is currently undergoing counselling to curb his online habits.

"He’s understood that he’s got too far. He’s allowed to use the phone but he can’t buy anything anymore.”

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