Policeman reports his 13-year-old son for FRAUD

[Reece]

...after Apple refuse to refund £3,700 bill he ran up on his iPad

Father claims teenage son was unaware he was being charged
Wants Apple to scrap the charge but company has so far refused
Only way to recoup money is to report purchases as fraudulent
Son could now face arrest and questioning by police

A policeman has shopped his 13-year-old son for fraud after he ran up a £3,700 bill playing iPad games.
PC Doug Crossan, 48, was horrified when his credit card company informed him that son Cameron had blown a small fortune in the App Store.
He claims the teenager, who now faces the possibility of being arrested and questioned by his father's colleagues, was unaware he was being charged for the in-game purchases and wants Apple to scrap the charge.
But the technology company has refused and his only way of recouping the money is to report the purchases as being fraudulent.

So Mr Crossan, of Clevedon, North Somerset, has reported Cameron to the Action Fraud helpline - meaning it is now up to the police to decide if a crime has been committed.
He said: 'I am sure Cameron had no intention to do it, but I had to have a crime reference number if there was any chance of getting any credit card payments refunded.

'In theory the local police station would contact me and ask for Cameron to come in to be interviewed.
'I could make it difficult of course and refuse to bring him in and they would have to come and arrest him.
'Really I just want to embarrass Apple as much as possible. Morally, I just don't understand where Apple gets off charging for a child's game.'

Cameron has only owned the Apple tablet computer since December after he and other pupils at Clevedon School were bought them to aid them in class.
Mr Crossan logged the details of his MBNA Virgin credit card with Apple when he used the device to download a music album.
Cameron then racked up more than 300 purchases on games such as Plants vs Zombies, Hungry Shark, Gun Builder and Nova 3.
Many of them are free to download but users can buy in-game extras - in one game Cameron had purchased a virtual chest of gold coins costing £77.98.

When his father confronted him Cameron quickly confessed, claiming he did not know he was incurring charges as the games were initially free.
Mr Crossan said: 'None of us had any knowledge of what was happening as there was no indication in the game that he was being charged for any of the clicks made within it.
'He innocently thought that, because it was advertised as a free game, the clicks would not cost anything.'
Apple has refused to cancel the charges, citing parental responsibility and pointing out that iPads contain password locks to prevent accidental or unwanted purchases.
But Mr Crossan, an officer with Avon and Somerset Police, believes the company has 'duped' his son into making purchases he was not aware of.

He said: 'I am a father of a studious, polite and sensible 13-year-old who has been duped after uploading free children's games on his iPod and iPad.
'None of us had any knowledge of what was happening as there was no indication in the game that he was being charged for any of the clicks made within the game.
'Cameron innocently thought that because it was an advertised as a free game, the clicks would not cost.
'Our son is mortified to think that this has happened.
'I wonder how many others there are in the UK that have suffered at the hands of these apps?'
Mr Crossan only found out about Cameron's spending when he cancelled the direct debit for the credit card, believing it was clear, and MBNA Virgin contacted him to reveal more than £3,000 was still outstanding.
He has now reported the purchases to Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting centre run by the National Fraud Authority, a Government agency.
Victims are issued with a police crime reference number and details are then passed to the police, who may pursue the case further.
Officers decide whether or not a crime has been committed and, if so, they then give the person who has reported the crime the opportunity to press charges.
Avon and Somerset Police today refused to comment on the case.
Mr Crossan is among an increasing number of parents who have been caught out by their children's spending on iTunes.
Earlier this year, five-year-old Danny Kitchen spent £17,000 buying weapons and ammunition in the iPad game Zombies v Ninja.
His parents Greg and Sharon were delighted to learn Apple would refund the money, because they were a series of innocent purchases made over a very short space of time.
With more than half a billion active accounts, the App Store is the most popular online marketplace in the world.
The store currently offers more than 775,000 apps to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users.

[GladyGlados]

He claims the teenager, who now faces the possibility of being arrested and questioned by his father's colleagues, was unaware he was being charged for the in-game purchases and wants Apple to scrap the charge.

, I just don't understand where Apple gets off charging for a child's game.'

When his father confronted him Cameron quickly confessed, claiming he did not know he was incurring charges as the games were initially free.
Mr Crossan said: 'None of us had any knowledge of what was happening as there was no indication in the game that he was being charged for any of the clicks made within it.
'He innocently thought that, because it was advertised as a free game, the clicks would not cost anything.
If a game is advertised as free then the stuff in it should be

[Mikal]

A women had the same thing in the UK, her daughter was buying credits on a game that was apperently free, they refunded over £1,000.
Why did they refund her if they arn't going to refund him? And this is an example of why I didn't take a contract out of my younger sister.

[Slavik]

...after Apple refuse to refund £3,700 bill he ran up on his iPad

 Ãƒâ€šÃ‚£3,700 bill

Now that's a LOT of money

[Mikal]

Now that's a LOT of money

Bill, as in something you have to pay, not bill as in billions..

[Bradisback]

Teenager musta knew... although there is one click purchases it does have a price beside it

[Jellyfish]

Regarding these one click purchases, doesn't it prompt you to enter your credit card information? (forgive me, never used Apple products much or clicked on that stuff)

[Brian]

Bill, as in something you have to pay, not bill as in billions..

Still alot of money :P You can buy alot of things with 3.7k

[[WS]Jacob]

Grab him by the collar and take him down the nick PC Crossan

[~Legend~]

Interesting, but I think "embarrassing" Apple's going to be slightly more difficult. One of their lead designers received a knighthood from the Queen not that long and, after all. :p

But seriously, the reason why most of these app stores ask for you to enter you card details is so that they can charge you directly if/when needed.

All products I've run into have stated the price on Apple areas at least.
If they didn't it could be counted as misadvertising.

[Gimli]

Oh puh-leeze, in-app purchases are very easy to understand. You see a prompt that says you're going to be charged $x, like this:

[Mikal]

Oh puh-leeze, in-app purchases are very easy to understand. You see a prompt that says you're going to be charged $x, like this:
[Picture]

All apps are a crap waste of money so I wouldn't know, don't buy them..

[Duel]

What...

If a game is advertised as free then the stuff in it should be

The point is, its very easy to understand if you have to buy something, as Gimli pointed out.

Now that's a LOT of money

Bill, as in something you have to pay, not bill as in billions..

/me facepalms..

[Mikal]

* Mikal facepalms..

Hey man, thats what he thought.. Facepalm at him not me!