South Korean dad loses US$115,000 after child spends it on gifts for live-streaming stars
- As Covid-19 keeps children indoors, authorities say cases have spiked of parents facing bill shocks over unauthorised payments
- A total of 1,587 such cases were filed between January and September this year, almost double the 813 reports made last year
And of the parents who had lost money, few were as shocked as a 48-year-old father in Seoul who found that a lump sum of 130 million won (US$115,000) – the money he and his wife had been saving for a new house – had vanished from their bank account in August.
It turned out their 11-year-old daughter had spent the sum while using a live-streaming app called Hakuna Live, which allows fans of streaming stars to buy gifts for them with in-app credits called “diamonds”.
The girl sent 130 million won worth of diamonds to 35 streamers through the mobile payment system on her mother’s smartphone between August 3 and 12.
“My wife always leaves her phone unlocked since she is visually impaired and suffers from brain damage,” Kim said in an interview with local radio station CBS on Wednesday.
He reached out to all 35 streamers to ask for reimbursement. Several of them agreed to refund the money, but some 46 million won (US$40,000) will not be recovered, Kim said.
