A teenage Twitch viewer sent $19,870 USD to several streamers using his mother’s debit card over the course of two weeks. The teen’s mother found the charges toward the card between June 14 to June 30, claiming “years of savings” were taken from her account over a two-week period. She says these donations went to popular streamers like Tfue, Gorb, Ewokttv, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kurt Benkert, and the Miami Heat’s Meyers Leonard.
The mother, who has decided to remain anonymous to protect her family, spoke with Dot Esports about the situation, saying that nearly all the money she lost has been credited back to her account. After struggling to contact anyone at Twitch to discuss the issue, the woman successfully received a refund from the streaming site’s paying service Xsolla.
“I am so relieved to have the money restored to my account and let the nightmare end,” the woman told Dot Esports. “At this point, it’s within a few hundred dollars, and I am happy to have received what I did, and am not going to pursue the difference.” Using the company’s online chat feature, she got adjustment credits on nearly all transactions, but in exchange was told the account is “permanently blocked to prevent future unauthorized charges,” according to the Xsolla chat agent.
20k in donations by minor in 17 days from r/Twitch
Before contacting Xsolla, however, she attempted to communicate with Amazon and even resorted to sending a registered letter to Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. When all else failed, she tried contacting her bank, but they could only provide further assistance if she was willing to press charges against her son. She found out about Xsolla by discovering other parents online who found success in similar situations.
Through her journey, she also met several people who made the same mistake when they were kids, some of which resulted in strained relationships with their parents. “I heard and felt the pain from those kids, now adults, who shared their stories with me so I wouldn’t make the same mistake,” the woman said to Dot Esports. “I listened to them. I realized that although what he had done was bad, losing the money was not worth losing my child.”
Although she was able to receive most of her money, she said “hitting a brick wall with Twitch was the most frustrating thing of all. The fact that no one would respond, and there was no way to speak with anyone was horrible,” she said. “That was probably the worst.”
The son is “remorseful,” according to the mother, and is going to counseling. He’s also been limited to one hour of monitored daily playtime “with the stipulation that he must do positive activities throughout the day, get exercise, and interact with the family in a positive manner.”
In other gaming news, EA Sports removes toxic celebrations from FIFA 21.
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