A mother has gone viral with a video in which she says her young son spent ₦7.8 million on Roblox, an online game platform popular with children. A caption on the video reads: “I don’t know whether to cry, scream or just faint.”
What the video shows (the on-screen evidence)
The video shows a tablet displaying an App Store purchase history, with charges dated from late September into October 2026. Several entries read “Roblox | 22500 Robux,” and each one is priced at ₦359,900. Robux is the in-game currency that players buy with real money. Other in-app purchases appear too, at prices such as ₦24,900, ₦14,900 and ₦7,900. In the later frames, a mother sits on a sofa with a young boy, speaks to him with a tablet on her lap, and then embraces him.
We saw only a few of the charges on screen, so we cannot confirm that they add up to ₦7.8 million. The caption begins with “POV,” a format used both for real moments and for staged skits on social media. Nothing in the video proves which this is. We also do not know whether the purchases went through a saved bank card, gift cards or a linked account.
Not the first family caught out (past cases from other countries)
The problem of children spending parents’ money in games is well documented, though the amounts we found were far smaller. In Arizona, a mother, Kayla Howard, found that her 7-year-old son had made over $800 in unauthorised Roblox purchases. She had linked her debit card to the children’s accounts. After she contacted Google Play and Roblox, Roblox told her it would refund the purchases she requested.
Not every family gets money back. In Canada, an 11-year-old boy reportedly took about $2,000 to $3,000 of the family’s emergency savings and bought Roblox gift cards. His parents could not get a refund because of the company’s policy. In Singapore, a 9-year-old boy reportedly took almost S$6,000 over three months to buy gift cards, which his mother said cost about three months of her salary. In New Zealand, a mother’s card was declined at a grocery store, and she later found her son had spent about $6,700 on Roblox.
Why children rack up big bills (how this happens)
Young children may not understand that virtual currency is real money. If a bank card is saved on the device, purchases can go through with a tap and no password. One US case involved a boy buying Robux to give gifts to friends because he felt left out. Fake “free Robux” offers also trick children into giving up login details, and Roblox does not guarantee recovery of stolen currency or items.
Lost savings and a hard conversation (effects on families)
A loss of this size could wipe out savings meant for rent, school fees or emergencies. It can also strain the bond between parent and child, who may not have understood what he was doing. Many Nigerian families now link bank cards to phones, tablets and app stores, so the same risk applies at home.
What parents can do now (possible solutions)
Parents can avoid saving card details on devices their children use, and use gift cards with a fixed amount. They can switch on purchase approval and spending limits in the device settings, and turn on bank alerts for every transaction. They should talk to children early about how virtual money is real money.
If a purchase has already happened, contact the bank and the app store immediately and report the charges as unauthorised. The Arizona case suggests that a quick complaint can lead to a refund, though results vary by platform and policy. Platforms and banks can also make large purchases harder, with extra checks for repeated high-value payments.
A costly lesson, and a reminder to check settings (our view)
We do not know whether this video is a real household crisis or a staged skit, and we have not been able to confirm the amount. But the message is useful either way. A child with a tablet and a saved payment method can run up a large bill in minutes.
If the loss is real, we hope the mother can recover her money quickly, and that she will not blame the child alone. A young boy rarely understands what a naira figure on a screen means. For other parents, the lesson is to check settings before a problem happens, not after.
Published by Ejoh Caleb
