16 year old runs up 48,000 Euro gambling bill on the Internet

16 year old runs up 48,000 Euro gambling bill on the Internet
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By h.b. - Oct 23, 2008 - 8:48 PM

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The youngster from Granada ran up the bill using his parents' credit card.

A 16 year old boy from Granada has generated a debt of 48,000 € using his parents credit cards on an internet virtual casino.

The Spanish Federation of Rehabilitated Gamblers, FEJAR, spokesman, Jorge Barroso, says that the boy ran up the debt on the parents credit card, and such things are common as nobody from the casinos sees or checks the age of who is playing. He said it was getting so common as to be ruining some people’s lives forever.

He also warned about the amounts now being spent by some children on their mobile phones, especially if Internet was present, with bills of 300 or 400 € a month not uncommon, and some children already suffering from deformed hands from sending so many text messages.

Latest data showed that the amount gambled on the internet in Spain is up five-fold since 1997 and will reach five billion €. The FEJA thinks that as many as five percent of the Spanish population could have a problem with gambling.

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