A distraught mum says her Fortnite-addict son spent her entire life savings after racking up an eye-watering £16,000 bill while playing computer games.
The teen allegedly cleaned out her bank accounts by making donations to his favourite online gamers using video-live streaming service Twitch.
The woman revealed how her “years of savings” disappeared in just 17 days after her son used a debit card to buy donations and subscriptions.
In a Reddit post, the woman appealed for help to recoup the $19,870.94 (£15,590) charge after her initial efforts to get the money returned failed .
“When I saw the bank balances were almost gone, my lips started to tingle and I had to put my head down so I wouldn’t pass out,” she told Dot Esports.
“I cried at first. I didn’t believe he could’ve done this.”
When confronted, the son confessed to transferring her money into his own debit card account using her password, but denied knowing the full figure.
Her son is said to have spent the money on the Twitch streamers Tfue, Gorb and Ewokttv.
The mum - who wants to remain anonymous- said she has reached out to her bank, Amazon and even the CEO of Twitch in a bid to get her life savings back, but is yet to hear from them.
Reddit users say that many banks will refuse to pay back the money unless she takes legal action against her son.
She told Dot Esports : "I contacted my bank as soon as I found out and they froze all of our accounts, and his debit card was cancelled.
"Unless I press charges against my son, they will not help as this is considered friendly fraud."
The mum has admitted she was not paying close enough attention to what he was doing online and says she is hoping this will be the "one giant mistake he makes in his life."
