A 10-year-old girl bought in-app purchases worth £2,012 ($2,486) in coins for a TikTok creator. The parents discovered the purchases in their inbox and went through getting refunds from Apple but were refused.
The worried parents tried to contact the company, including its Irish HQ. They were then given a link to Apple's legal process, which provides minimal information.
According to Appleinsider, a reader named "AH" said they gave their 10-year-old daughter with autism and "learning difficulties" an iPhone as a Christmas present. Days later, the girl made substantial purchases.
Child safety controls
When the purchases were being investigated, the outlet's response revealed that the parents did not activate any child safety controls on the iPhone before the mom handed it to their child. The child control feature is necessary to prevent unnecessary or unauthorized purchases and limit a child's activity on their iPhone. They previously activated the child control feature on their child's previous iPhone but failed to do so on the new model.
When the parents contacted TikTok, they found out that the creator had four million followers and was verified by the platform. Initially, TikTok said they had investigated the matter and found no irregularity. However, they did not explain what the payment was for.
Tiktok Fraud
Upon further investigation, TikTok discovered that user "Ohidur247" had breached guidelines relating to fraud and scams. They were taking payments in exchange for followers, The Telegraph said.
The parents then contacted Apple, who agreed to refund the parent in full. They also reminded the parents to keep the parental controls on. The parents commented that the payment system should have flagged suspicious activity and blocked the payments, a measure that is similar to anti-fraud measures performed by the banks.
Despite the investigation and the return of funds, TikTok barely held Ohidur247 accountable for breaking its rules. Tiktok deactivated the creator's livestream feature, but the account is still active and verified.
Setting parental controls
It is vital to keep your child away from sensitive content and limit their screen time. The iPhone parental control also allows control purchases and set content and privacy restrictions.
Other benefits of parental control include restricting information that children share, which can help child predators. The feature also allows block specific content, such as pornography and violence, and sets limits on the time that children can spend online. Lastly, parental controls help track the location of the kids if they go missing and the location of the device in case someone misplaces it.
Aside from setting parental control limits and restricting the contents accessible to the children, parents should also talk to their children about recognizing inappropriate content and child predators, as per Home Telecom.
There are four places to find parental controls. It is essential to set a combination of these. Parents can set up parental controls on the internet provider, mobile operator, devices, and online services.
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