Doctor ignores default iOS parental controls, child racks up $1,800 in in-app purchases

Posted:
in iOS
A doctor in North Wales claims he had to sell his family car in order to pay for the in-app purchases his seven-year-old son had racked up during one hour on an iPhone game.

Consultant endocrinologist Muhammad Mutaza and son. Neither knew about iOS parental controls
Consultant endocrinologist Muhammad Mutaza and son. Neither knew about iOS parental controls


Consultant endocrinologist Muhammad Mutaza from Colwyn Bay in North Wales, says that Apple "tricked" his child by not preventing in-app purchases. His son, 11, played the free version of "Dragons: Rise of Berk" for an hour, and made around 30 in-app purchases.

Mutaza got 29 email receipts before noticing any of them, and by then his total App Store bill was GBP 1,289.70 ($1,792).

"Initially, my thought was that I'd been scammed," he told the UK's Daily Mail newspaper. "I never thought it would be possible to spend that much money on a kids' game."

"It's not even limited to one click a day, you could click 'purchase' 10,000 times and spend a million pounds on it in half an hour," he continued.

Mutaza complained to Apple, saying that his son had been "pressured" into making the purchases. Apple refunded him GBP 207 ($290) -- and now Mutaza says that he is now considering legal action.

"I've been an Apple customer since 2005," he told the Daily Mail, "[and] I just said to the customer services man on the phone, 'well done, you've ripped me off, congratulations, you have succeeded in ripping my child off, you've tricked him."

Mutaza says he then told Apple that he will not be "spending another penny on you ever again."

Apple's parental control features are turned on by default for children the age of Mutaza's son. While Mutaza says that his son must have memorized his password, account password security is the responsibility of the device or account owner.

When queried by the publication about the incident, Apple also pointed out that beyond password security, "Ask to Buy" is only one of a number of parental control features that are designed to prevent this situation.

Separately, Ask to Buy and such protections are among the issues Apple has used to defend its App Store curation. Its recent privacy publication says that without such control over the App Store, it would be much more difficult for parents to avoid their children running up such bills.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 45
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,071member
    I guess being a doctor in wales doesn’t pay that much. And he’s a lousy parent. Someone, please give this man a vasectomy before he does even more damage.
    pichaelelijahgslow n easyDnykjpRfC6fnBspulseimagesviclauyycapplguymagman1979watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 2 of 45
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Well, imagine how much worse things will get if the old farts in Congress force Apple to allow 3rd party stores. And No, this won’t be like android. iKnockoff users are broke, developers know Apple users have money so they will exploit the sh** out of that security hole.

    And it will be “Apple’s fault” and people will complain that “Apple tricked” them and sue Apple.
    edited June 2021 StrangeDaysgenovellepichaeldoozydozenronnslow n easyviclauyycGeorgeBMacmagman1979watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 45
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,128member
    Why is he complaining about Apple and not the game developer?

    I have one freemium game I play fairly regularly - I've accumulated quite a bit of in game currency just by "getting good" - I haven't paid them a penny. I just did the math. over $2000 if I had paid for it? How can I turn that in?!
    pichaeldoozydozenslow n easyviclauyycFileMakerFellermagman1979lowededwookiejony0
  • Reply 4 of 45
    XedXed Posts: 2,668member
    LOL If you're this irrational about charges that you allowed to happen from being this irresponsible from not taking basic measures to protect your account with long-held, and well known practices and checks then you are not a physician I would trust. If you are so poor at managing your money that you need to sell your car over $1,800 than you are not a physician will trust*.

    Note: Many years ago there were definitely issues with the system of which Apple was clearly culpable, but they resolved that lack of protections long ago.

    * I think he probably had an extra car that he wasn't really using and decided to sell around the time of his own egregious oversight more so than he didn't have the funds to cover the cost, but either way it's not a good look for him.
    Beatspichaelmuthuk_vanalingamdoozydozenelijahgslow n easypulseimagesviclauyycmagman1979watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 45
    williamhwilliamh Posts: 1,036member
    Just wait until the tyke discovers Amazon 😝. 
    mwhitedoozydozenronnfred1dewmewebweaselBombdoeFileMakerFellermagman1979watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 45
    Xed said:
    LOL If you're this irrational about charges that you allowed to happen from being this irresponsible from not taking basic measures to protect your account with long-held, and well known practices and checks then you are not a physician I would trust. If you are so poor at managing your money that you need to sell your car over $1,800 than you are not a physician will trust*.

    Note: Many years ago there were definitely issues with the system of which Apple was clearly culpable, but they resolved that lack of protections long ago.

    * I think he probably had an extra car that he wasn't really using and decided to sell around the time of his own egregious oversight more so than he didn't have the funds to cover the cost, but either way it's not a good look for him.
    A doctor with no spare funds? - ok Wales but really - he must be really bad (or extravagant) not have $1800.
    slow n easywebweaselmagman1979watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 45
    badmonkbadmonk Posts: 1,316member
    An iPhone is considered to be a medical device on par as a stethoscope to real doctors.  He should not be giving his child his iPhone,  What happens when the ER needs to call him when one of his patients presents in DKA?

    And just maybe that child needs to medicated.

    I think he is a bad parent and doctor.
    slow n easymagman1979watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 45
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,930member
    Yeah buyer beware and all that…but still, in-app purchases in games are a scam. They’re basically slot machines. The world was better off without them, just normal games and rewarding gameplay. 
    macpluspluspichaelmuthuk_vanalingamelijahgh4y3sslow n easylam92103magman1979watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 9 of 45
    XedXed Posts: 2,668member
    mknelson said:
    Why is he complaining about Apple and not the game developer?

    I have one freemium game I play fairly regularly - I've accumulated quite a bit of in game currency just by "getting good" - I haven't paid them a penny. I just did the math. over $2000 if I had paid for it? How can I turn that in?!
    I'm unfortunately addicted to one such game. They always trying to get you to pay for day, week, month, and year access to the game without ads, and for countless varieties of boosters. The level of complexity in their in-app sales options are impressive. I've never paid nor never will pay for a single one, but I do suffer with ads after every round.

    The wife plays the game, too, and she lets the nieces and nephews use her iPhone when they're in town so the first thing I did was disable in-app purchases, switch the complex passcode for the device to a basic PIN for their use, and then logoff of Media & Purchases so they can't even circumvent by re-enabling the in-app purchases in Screen Time, since it and Settings still can't be password protected, which is the only issue I have with Apple.

    Now I just have her bring an old iPad which they can use that doesn't have anything logged in and one of us can manually install a game if they want it, but also leave in-app purchased disabled—for all devices—since it's not something that ever really gets used in my house and only takes a few clicks if I ever do need to enable it.

    I understand that my efforts are probably more intense than others, but even the minimum level of proactive measures this will never happen.

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304#prevent-purchases


    PS: Another solution is subscribing to Apple Arcade which are all ad-free.
    edited June 2021 ancientaupichaelh4y3sslow n easyviclauyycwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 45
    As a parent I first feel his pain bc those little "angels" are the best beta testers of your daily "expected" routines using nothing but "fuzzing" the hell out of every possible choice :D .  But..... take responsibility. What makes your situation any different than millions of other identical setups?  Be careful, he might have just "memorized" how you start your car, gas grill, etc.  Your job, not the state, company, or school to raise him.  Treat this as a very cheap lesson on what your little sweet dependents can/will cost you if left unchecked.   "iPhones don't kill your bank account, the people holding the iPhones do." 

    emcnairronnelijahgslow n easyDnykjpRfC6fnBsviclauyycFileMakerFellergregoriusmmagman1979watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 45
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,103member
    This is a symptom of a bigger problem and that is adults not taking responsibility for their irresponsibility.  Good luck with that lawsuit.  He must be a crappy doctor if he can't afford that that bill, but he seems to have enough money to file a frivolous lawsuit.

    That being said, I will say one thing... After years of not playing games, COVID had me re-addressing that and began looking at some video games on my iPhone.  I will say one thing for sure... 99 out of 100 games are absolute crap.  They all have the same general play, and the amount of in-game advertising - borderline harassment - that these developers insert to get anywhere in the game without paying a fee to advance in some way is inexcusable.  This is a very bad evolution in game design and Apple truly should be ashamed for allowing such garbage to occur.  I would gladly pay money for games that do not constantly shove ads and ask me to spend money all the time.

    A part of me wants a lawsuit against Apple to disallow such scams, because that is what it is.  Adults generally know better, but these games are addictive towards children and they are designed to trick them.  No doubt.

    The parent should have known better.

    Meanwhile - Of course there's no "headlines" over on Android.  Hmmm...

    edited June 2021 ancientaumacplusplusmuthuk_vanalingamemcnairronnFileMakerFellermagman1979jony0
  • Reply 12 of 45
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 887member
    It's a pitty, but this is exactly why Apple doesn't want sideloading and for people to use the App store and it's measures.  I mean sure the kid figured, found, or snooped his dad's password (I hear), but could you imagine sideloading?!?  People would sit there all day going, "I am never buying Apple again," or "I am gonna sue Apple" etc yeesh!
    BeatsronnDnykjpRfC6fnBsslow n easymagman1979watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 13 of 45
    Xed said:
    mknelson said:
    Why is he complaining about Apple and not the game developer?

    I have one freemium game I play fairly regularly - I've accumulated quite a bit of in game currency just by "getting good" - I haven't paid them a penny. I just did the math. over $2000 if I had paid for it? How can I turn that in?!
    I'm unfortunately addicted to one such game. They always trying to get you to pay for day, week, month, and year access to the game without ads, and for countless varieties of boosters. The level of complexity in their in-app sales options are impressive. I've never paid nor never will pay for a single one, but I do suffer with ads after every round.

    The wife plays the game, too, and she lets the nieces and nephews use her iPhone when they're in town so the first thing I did was disable in-app purchases, switch the complex passcode for the device to a basic PIN for their use, and then logoff of Media & Purchases so they can't even circumvent by re-enabling the in-app purchases in Screen Time, since it and Settings still can't be password protected, which is the only issue I have with Apple.

    Now I just have her bring an old iPad which they can use that doesn't have anything logged in and one of us can manually install a game if they want it, but also leave in-app purchased disabled—for all devices—since it's not something that ever really gets used in my house and only takes a few clicks if I ever do need to enable it.

    I understand that my efforts are probably more intense than others, but even the minimum level of proactive measures this will never happen.

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304#prevent-purchases


    PS: Another solution is subscribing to Apple Arcade which are all ad-free.

    You can password protect Screen Time, even with a different password than the unlock one. That's how I have our devices setup.
    (edited for incorrect spelling)
    edited June 2021 ronngregoriusmwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 45
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member
    This is proof that you can be a doctor and still and idiot. He obviously doesn’t understand how life works. Apple didn’t prompt his kid to buy anything. Apple didn’t make the game or force his kid to buy something or leave his kid unsupervised. He could have configured parental controls. He didn’t. This is user error akin to leaving the keys in the family car and letting your kid play in it unsupervised.
    ronndewmeDnykjpRfC6fnBsslow n easyviclauyycfastasleepFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 45
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,039member
    I am not a fan of in app purchases but this guy is obviously a moron.
    It is really easy to prevent something like this from happening.

    If you can pass medical school and Endo boards you can figure out how to limit purchases by your kid. Beyond that, you would give a kid a limited account if you were willing to let them buy stuff without parental controls.
    ronndewmeslow n easywatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 45
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    I used to deal with this all the when worked an Illinois Bell public business office. People would call in outraged about a huge long distance bill a family member ran up calling boyfriend, girlfriend or 900 sex line. Since they hadn’t authorized the calls they claimed they were nit responsible for the charges, much like this ‘doctor’ is claiming.
    slow n easyapplguyviclauyycwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 17 of 45
    genovellegenovelle Posts: 1,481member
    sflocal said:
    This is a symptom of a bigger problem and that is adults not taking responsibility for their irresponsibility.  Good luck with that lawsuit.  He must be a crappy doctor if he can't afford that that bill, but he seems to have enough money to file a frivolous lawsuit.

    That being said, I will say one thing... After years of not playing games, COVID had me re-addressing that and began looking at some video games on my iPhone.  I will say one thing for sure... 99 out of 100 games are absolute crap.  They all have the same general play, and the amount of in-game advertising - borderline harassment - that these developers insert to get anywhere in the game without paying a fee to advance in some way is inexcusable.  This is a very bad evolution in game design and Apple truly should be ashamed for allowing such garbage to occur.  I would gladly pay money for games that do not constantly shove ads and ask me to spend money all the time.

    A part of me wants a lawsuit against Apple to disallow such scams, because that is what it is.  Adults generally know better, but these games are addictive towards children and they are designed to trick them.  No doubt.

    The parent should have known better.

    Meanwhile - Of course there's no "headlines" over on Android.  Hmmm...

    Enter the solution, Arcade 
    slow n easywatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 45
    XedXed Posts: 2,668member
    Xed said:
    mknelson said:
    Why is he complaining about Apple and not the game developer?

    I have one freemium game I play fairly regularly - I've accumulated quite a bit of in game currency just by "getting good" - I haven't paid them a penny. I just did the math. over $2000 if I had paid for it? How can I turn that in?!
    I'm unfortunately addicted to one such game. They always trying to get you to pay for day, week, month, and year access to the game without ads, and for countless varieties of boosters. The level of complexity in their in-app sales options are impressive. I've never paid nor never will pay for a single one, but I do suffer with ads after every round.

    The wife plays the game, too, and she lets the nieces and nephews use her iPhone when they're in town so the first thing I did was disable in-app purchases, switch the complex passcode for the device to a basic PIN for their use, and then logoff of Media & Purchases so they can't even circumvent by re-enabling the in-app purchases in Screen Time, since it and Settings still can't be password protected, which is the only issue I have with Apple.

    Now I just have her bring an old iPad which they can use that doesn't have anything logged in and one of us can manually install a game if they want it, but also leave in-app purchased disabled—for all devices—since it's not something that ever really gets used in my house and only takes a few clicks if I ever do need to enable it.

    I understand that my efforts are probably more intense than others, but even the minimum level of proactive measures this will never happen.

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304#prevent-purchases


    PS: Another solution is subscribing to Apple Arcade which are all ad-free.

    You can password protect Screen Time, even with a different password than the unlock one. That's how I have our devices setup.
    (edited for incorrect spelling)
    I didn't know that. That should resolve the ability to keep others from enabling in-app purchases without having to logout of the App Store. Thanks.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 45
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Being able to spend that much in that short a space of time seems like it should require some sort of enhanced security.  I’m a little surprised his bank didn’t block the transaction.

    But otherwise he isn’t accepting any responsibility for something that is at least partly, if not majorly his and his sons fault.  Not a whole lot of sympathy.
    muthuk_vanalingamelijahgh4y3sslow n easyviclauyycpatchythepirateGeorgeBMacwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 20 of 45
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,477member
    It’s totally unfair of this guy to accuse Apple of ripping him off. It was his own inattentiveness and shortcoming as a parent that led to his financial loss. 

    Usually it’s the parents that are in a position to teach their children important lessons in life. In this case, it is the child that schooled the parent and delivered a lesson about taking responsibility for properly supervising children left with adult tools that should not be left unattended in the hands of a child. 

    Yes, I know parents stick their smartphones and tablets in the hands of their children just to shut them up so the parent can focus on things other than child care. They treat these devices as electronic babysitters in the same way they give their dog a chew toy to amuse themselves for a while. Dogs can choke on chew toys and kiddies can rack up serious debts. Responsibility starts and ends with the parent, not with Apple or even the game maker. 
    ronnFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
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