Don't Steal From Your Family

orinj

this is really really sad, but i just wanted to share this with you guys.

we were contacted today by a payment organization requesting an investigation on behalf of one of its users. basically the payment was being disputed.

while i don't want to go into specifics, know that it was a hefty sum of cash.

per the investigation being filed, we made a call to the necessary individuals and finally got in touch with the holder of the funding source.

summary: an old lady's grandson took advantage of her trusting nature and made over a thousand dollar's worth of ZEN payments without her permission. this ultimately left her broke, unable to pay for her ailing husband's hospital bills, and who knows what else... having to hear a heart-broken lady whose just been informed that her grandson betrayed her trust is not cool... not even in the least bit... it really hurt to hear her sorrow over the phone. it's not something that i hope to experience again.

if you're curious, here's how the conversation went:

PWE: hello, this is perfect world entertainment. i'm looking for old lady.

old lady: speaking, how can i help you?

PWE: hi old lady, we were contacted today by a payment institution
asking us to investigate some payments that were made using your bank's debit card.

old lady: oh yes, why thanks for calling! i was really worried about that. it says that were 30 payments using my card and i know i didn't authorize that.

PWE: well, it hurts me to say this, but while you may not have authorized it, it did indeed take place.

old lady: what do you mean?

PWE: do you know little kid?

old lady: why yes, little kid is my grandson. i allowed to him to use my information once to buy something for that online game.

PWE: right, well the thing is, he didn't just make one payment... he made 30...

old lady: oh no... that can't be right... he wouldn't do that... <sigh>

PWE: well, i'm not trying to say that anyone's a liar, but your bank says 30 transactions, our internal system shows 30 transactions, and your payment institution's records show 30 transactions...

old lady: oh dear... how much was spent?

PWE: over one thousand dollars... currently the funds are frozen while this investigation is taking place... it may take as long as 30 days for the funds to be released... i apologize for this...

old lady: oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.... <begins weeping> we don't have the money for that... he knows we don't have the money for that... how could he do such a thing... we won't be able to pay <insert name>'s bills this month... what are we going to do? what will we ever do?

PWE: well, now that we've cleared this issue up, i'm going to do everything in my power to ensure that this tedious process is expedited, considering the circumstances. we realize that these charges were not authorized by you and we will treat it as such.

old lady: i just don't know what to think anymore... i don't know what to do... <continuously weeping>

PWE: we'll do our best to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. we don't want to cause you any additional stress. right now i'm going to transfer you to one of our billing specialists so they can help you resolve this issue, okay?

old lady: <weeping> thank you, thank you...

and due to privacy issues, i won't go into any further details about her grandson's account.

moral of the story: don't steal from your family. as a matter of fact, don't steal from anyone. would you like it if someone stole from you? i didn't think so.

be good to each other, both in the virtual world and the real world.

- Orinj

Fatburger - Lost City

posting in a potentially epic thread.

mayonnayse

I'm not one to post at all but this got me really mad so I felt I had to. Why the **** would you jack your own grandma. I got one and I would never do that to her. I hope that dude gets some divine retribution. b:angry

Nayiro - Sanctuary

So you pronounce your name "orange" right?

starman17

my grandma spends all my money on ZEN.

Maiya - Lost City

Spending within reason and permission is good. Taking advantage over that is just wrong.

AngelOfLust - Heavens Tear

wow if someone ever did that to me they better call children services, the police or anything that could protect them cause they'd get a good beating

Divinzor - Sanctuary

OMG this is really sad.How can you be such a loser and a hopeless **** to steal/use your grandparents credit card in such a tedious way.

How can you live with yourself after you had done that.The most money i asked from my grandparents was to buy some ice cream as a kid.
This story makes me so sad.I wish i can get my hands on that guy/girl and skin him alive after hunting him down mercilessly for days without end.

darthpanda16

WALL-E meets Idiocracy.

Don't be stupid people. It sucked to hear Orinj's side of it on the phone here in the office.

NOT COOL. Do not steal from others, especially your own family.

If you have a gaming habit, go seek help.

As in all things in life, a little moderation helps keep you safe and sane.

End of line...

AndromedaB - Sanctuary

who would do such a thing? maybe taking abit more than normal is ok but OVER 100 DOLLARS OF REAL CASH? thats just sad and pathetic. maybe the guy should be ip banned and have his name released along with the story on the login message.


btw i havent spent any RL money on this game yet... planing to get a yofals star though... but thats about it... i earn my own money (<

---

{{{{ good girl)

Leolf - Heavens Tear

b:shocked That has to be one of the most tragic MMO addiction stories I've ever heard. What a horrible child......Just the thought of somebody doing that to not just their own family, their own GRANDPARENTS who could DIE is just....wow.....

Miugre - Heavens Tear

maybe the guy should be ip banned and have his name released along with the story on the login message.

I'd support the perm-ban option, too. Though releasing his name is out of bounds, that's kind of why Orinj censored them in this thread.

My biggest question is: how old was this kid? o.O

Faustinna - Heavens Tear

wow...just wow. His family is barely making ends meet and using what little money they have to pay for a sick family members care. And then the grandson uses up that money for an online videogame? For a videogame? I'm usualy not an angry or mean person, but this really is going too far. I hope criminal charges are brought up against this man and jail time as well.

Putting aside the fact that he stole money for a videogame, doing it when the money's needed to save someones life is beyond words. This person is a horrible horrible human being. If he's like this with his own family when life and death is at stake, imagine what he'll be like to total strangers? This is a menace to society if you ask me and he needs to be locked up and serious treatment. I'm beyond disgusted...b:angry

Rhogins - Lost City

Wow, I just cant believe it. Just reading this thread really makes me boil b:angry. To steal from his grandparents who can barely make ends meet then use more than a THOUSAND dollars really makes me mad...He should be taught a lesson! b:angry

Jrudora - Lost City

Kids now'adays truly believe money grows on trees I guess.
This guy needs a job, to feel the stress of money management.
And for the rest of you who knows how to think, you are 50 steps ahead of this guy.
Give yourself a good pat on the back!
Sure gives a poor name for the rest of us though, doesn't it?

Aryastark - Lost City

That little ****er better be STACKED with the best gear and items and rich as hell!!!


He better buy me some heiros!

Darkangelbri - Lost City

This is just wrong on so many levels. If it were my child I'd send him or her to juvi or jail depending on age. b:angry

I do hope that this grandparent never trusts this child again and changes her account info asap. As well as receives a full refund.

Aryetta - Lost City

Omg.. dumb kid... Poor grandparents.. I would make that kid work for the rest of his life earning bak the money and pay for himself from now on and possibly the grandpa too if i trust him enough. <.< See how hard money really is to earn

Zenpachi - Heavens Tear

See, this is one of those situations that you can honestly say: "It's just a game, kid"

Buknoybobo - Sanctuary

WOWb:shocked.i never knew that someone cound waste a hundred dollars for a video game.this kid a REAL adict.

Nayiro - Sanctuary

Buknoybobo - Sanctuary wrote: »

WOWb:shocked.i never knew that someone cound waste a hundred dollars for a video game.this kid a REAL adict.

it was a thousand :x

Davitiel - Heavens Tear

Wow...this is just plain sad...b:shocked
We cant let obsessions rule our lives to the point that we take advantage of our family, especialy to that extent that caused so much angst. This person needs to learn and understand about trust and the value of money.

Drazo - Heavens Tear

Not to mention they can easily sue you for it, since it's still illegal.

I'm glad to say all my payments were made by me with my own money. b:victory

jemima

Drazo - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Not to mention they can easily sue you for it, since it's still illegal.

I'm glad to say all my payments were made by me with my own money. b:victory

You would sue your own grandchild for money?
And isn't that rather futile, since he doesn't have any money to get off him, so all you'd end up doing is spending your money to bankrupt your grandchild even more.

Carial - Sanctuary

Greed is the factor here...wanting the most. It is a sad event that will lost the trust of the players family for the player, now that is painful. Not only did he steal from his Grandmother he made a bad name for us gamers in HER eyes so he also stole from us. I hope that a solution can be reached that benefits their Grandmother and maybe teach them a life lesson at the same time.

Tomiko - Heavens Tear

Holy.... GM's actually do their JOB? -.- Or This is just a hoax so we'll think you guys do your job? @_@ Confusing..... I wanna know who's that little kid b:laugh

Saitada - Sanctuary

I have to say, this kid needs to deal with some legal punishment. What he did is called Grand Theft...

"Grand theft is a felony crime in the United States defined as the theft of objects exceeding a certain monetary value.

Grand theft is committed when the money, labor, real or personal property stolen is valued at more than $400. Grand Theft can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony and is punishable by up to one year in county jail or 16 months in state prison, depending on the value of the goods stolen.

It is usually distinguished from petty theft where the value of the item taken is substantially lower in value. However, this distinction is not always the case. In the United States, for example, the theft of an automobile is usually considered Grand theft even if the vehicle is a salvage or scrap vehicle having no value or a very small value.

In the United States, the value necessary for a crime to rise from Petty to Grand theft can be as low as $100 depending on the jurisdiction, but is usually $200 or $1000. For instance, if property is in excess of a certain amount, then the charge would be raised to Grand Theft." (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_theft )

If I were this kids grandparent, he'd be looking at the inside of a jail cell. Juvinile or not, theft is theft and if a family member has started stealing from you, they show themselves to be unworthy of being called family in my opinion and mind.

Saitada

swiftlikeafox

Truely sickening, people usually turn out this way because they're allowed to however, I can imagine that he will not be punished in any way shape or form other than whatever punishment PWI has in store for his account.

If that were my kid, after i was through beating knots into his head, I'd turn my anger towards his computer and smash it into a billion tiny little pieces, after that I'd rip all the stuffing out of his matress and pillow, and replace it with the broken up computer pieces.... close the door behind me and put a padlock on it and set a 200 watt stereo speaker right up against his door blasting the lamest possible music i could possibly dig up. I would escort him to school the next day in handcuffs and on a leash, turning over the key and the end of the leash to his principal.

Solandri - Heavens Tear

Shouldn't the title just be "Don't Steal"? I mean I know stealing from your family makes it worse. But it's not like it's ok to get the credit card info of a stranger and use it to buy Zen.

Suiel - Sanctuary

This is sad, but not the first time its happened I'm sure. I hear of it on other mmo's far too often. I hope for the sake of the child, as well as the family, that a lesson is learned here on both sides, and that it was actually a child and not an adult grandchild. What action they take should depend on the age of the child but on the other hand, I know I would not freely hand over my credit card to a child on the internet, even for one use, no matter how much I trust them. Sad yes, but common sense nonetheless. I wish them all luck in dealing with this and I hope it inspires other children to think twice before making a thoughtless decision that will haunt them the rest of their lives.

Nicestuff_Ty - Heavens Tear

30 transactions over time, sure gives the card holder time to make the money back n cash more cheques (work,welfair, ect ect). I think if these transactions were in a short period of time, Customer service or w.e deals with this should have contacted the card holder instead of letting this poor old lady get messed over cuz of her nerdy little grandson that I hope you permently banned him n hopefully his grandma whooped him a good one until he coughed out money. Well whoever needs to steal to buy gold on a online game is really sad, get a life or a job atleast and buy your own.. tsk tsk..