‘SON’S £1,000 GAMES BILL LEFT ME BROKE’
ADISABLED single mother said she has been left almost bankrupt after her 10-year-old son spent more than £1,000 using her bank card on the game Fortnite. Cleo Duckett, from Cefn Glas in Bridgend, has been left with an overdraft bill and no money to pay for food or electricity after her son Jayden-Lee spent £1,193.25 on the online video game.
Fortnite, which has become immensely popular with youngsters across the country, sees users fending off monsters, building forts and even battling against other players in a frantic last-gamer-standing survival fight.
The programme also contains ingame purchases, where players can buy outfits, weapons and other items.
This is exactly what happened to 46-year-old Cleo, who is currently claiming benefits.
The mother-of-two, who suffers from polio in both legs and is wheelchair bound, was completely unaware of the mounting video game bill until she checked her bank account on Friday night.
“The bank didn’t even contact me to tell me about it,” Cleo, who receives around £700 a month in benefits, said.
“I only found out about it all when I went to use the cash machine and there was only £8 was left in my account.”
Not long after that, Cleo received a text from the bank saying she was now in her overdraft.
“My son started crying and admitted everything that he had done.
“He had used my bank card behind my back, typed my details into his Xbox and bought lots of games on Fortnite.
“He spent £1,193.25, leaving me around £245 into my overdraft. There was £50 here and £50 there; £60 here and £66 there, and that’s without the VAT.
“I think he must have been paying for different parts of the game.”
Cleo said she went to her bank in Cardiff on Saturday morning, and was told by staff that it was her responsibility to cover the overdraft debt.
“The bank is refusing to help me because they said my boy is my responsibility and I am responsible for his actions,” Cleo said.
“I’m not a criminal. I haven’t stolen the money or spent it on games for myself. I’ve been with the bank for more than 20 years and they’re just not helping me at all.”
Cleo said she has also emailed Fortnite, but is still awaiting a response from them.
“I’ll probably never see that money again. My boy didn’t understand what he was doing – he’s only 10.
“He didn’t understand that it was real money. He thought he was only getting credits.”
Cleo said she has now been offered a payment plan by the bank, but has no money to cover the overdraft instalment costs.
Because of this, she said, she has been forced to use money from her son’s savings account to cover the costs and to survive until her next benefit payment on September 6.
“I’m a single parent and I’ve got to survive five days with no money. It’s scary.
“I’ve got to buy food and pay for electric and gas and I’ve been left to manage on my own.”
The Co-op bank and Epic Games, which owns Fortnite, had not responded to our requests for a comment as we went to press.