An eight-year-old girl in Xinjiang has wiped out her parents’ savings after using their mobile phone to purchase gifts for online streamers, prompting police intervention to recover the funds, according to a news agency in China.
According to local reports, the child had frequently played with her parents’ phone and had memorised their payment password, which they often entered without concealment. In May, she accidentally entered a livestream on a social media platform and noticed other viewers sending virtual gifts to the host. She soon began doing the same, repeatedly tipping streamers over the course of two months.
Her spending quickly escalated, and she became the “top supporter” in several livestream rooms. By the time her parents attempted to pay wages to their employees, they discovered their bank balance had plummeted to just 16 MYR (approximately 25 yuan), with savings of more than 45,500 MYR (approximately 70,000 yuan) completely gone. Alarmed, they reported the matter to police.
Officers contacted the platform’s customer service team, explaining that the transactions had been made by a minor without parental consent. They also assisted the family in obtaining official transaction records from the bank to use as supporting evidence.
Following an investigation, the platform confirmed the payments were unauthorised and agreed to issue a full refund. On Aug 10, 46,672 MYR (approximately 71,803 yuan) was returned to the parents’ account.
“When we saw how much money our daughter had spent, it felt as though the sky had collapsed. We worked so hard to save that money,” the girl’s parents said. “We are deeply grateful to the police. Without their professionalism and persistence, we would never have been able to recover it.”
