China: 13-year-old girl stole $64,000 from her mother's bank card to top up games over the course of 4 months, causing a stir in public opinion.
The mother of Wang, a middle school student in Henan province, southern China, discovered her daughter stealing money after her teacher warned her about her gaming addiction. The mother checked her bank account and found that it had only $0.07 left, with a series of transactions involving deposits into the game.
When questioned by her father, Wang admitted to stealing 449,500 yuan ($64,000). Specifically, she spent 120,000 yuan ($17,000) on games, 210,000 yuan on in-game items ($29,600) and 100,000 yuan on games for at least 10 classmates.
"When my friends asked me to buy the game, I agreed even though I was uncomfortable," Wang said.
A 13-year-old girl named Wang recounts the incident of secretly taking $64,000 from her parents to top up a game. Photo: Weibo
Wang said she did not understand the value of money. When she found her mother’s bank card at home, she linked it to her phone. Her mother had given her the password in case she needed money urgently while her parents were away.
The middle school girl added that she had deleted all the banking transaction history on her phone so her mother did not discover that she had stolen the money.
Wang's incident quickly spread across Chinese social media.
"The 13-year-old girl knew what she was doing but didn't want to admit her mistake," one social media account commented. Another account said the incident was all Wang's parents' fault.
In February, a 14-year-old girl in northern China nearly died after spending 81 hours playing video games. In 2021, a 13-year-old girl in southern China attacked her mother with a knife after she scolded her for being too addicted to her phone.
According to McGill University's 2022 report on gaming addiction, China has the highest rate of gaming addiction, followed by Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. The study was based on a survey of 34,000 people from 24 countries, aged 15-35.
Ngoc Anh (According to SCMP )
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