Your child spent money in a game or app: how to get it back and stop it happening

What to do in the first 30 minutes

Most app stores and gaming platforms refund quickly and with few questions, but only within a short window after the purchase: anywhere from 24 hours to two weeks. So the order of your actions matters more than your arguments.

1. 1Find out where the money wentLook at the merchant name in your bank statement: it tells you where to apply (see the table below). Check the purchase history in the store account.
2. 2Stop new purchasesChange the account password, turn off purchases without a password, remove the card from the account for now or block it in the bank's app if charges keep coming.
3. 3Keep the evidenceScreenshots of the statement, purchase history and receipt emails. Don't delete the game or spend the bought currency: used items are refunded less often.
4. 4Request a refundIn the store or on the platform where the purchase went through, giving the reason «my child made this purchase without permission».
5. 5Talk to your childCalmly find out what was bought and whether anyone asked for money or card details. If so, it is fraud, and you need to act differently.

How to tell from the statement where to apply

In-game purchases almost always go through an intermediary: an app store, a gaming platform or the developer's website. That intermediary is what you see in the statement, and the game's name usually isn't there. The exact text depends on the bank and the payment method, but most often it looks like this.

If purchases were paid from a mobile phone balance, you still apply to the app store: the mobile operator only passes the payment through. While you're at it, turn off paying for purchases from the mobile balance in the operator's account.

Refund rules on popular platforms

Google Play step by step

1. Open play.google.com in a browser and sign in to the account the purchase was made from.
2. Go to Order history and find the purchase.
3. Tap Request a refund or Report a problem.
4. Choose a reason, for example that a family member made the purchase by mistake, and briefly describe what happened.

A decision usually arrives within one business day, but can take up to four. Google warns that if several people use the account or payment method, or the account isn't protected with purchase authentication, a refund may be refused. So set up protection right after you send the request.

Apple step by step

1. Open reportaproblem.apple.com and sign in with the Apple ID that paid.
2. If you are the Family Sharing organiser, choose «All» in the Apple ID field to see your children's purchases.
3. Find the purchase, tap Request a refund and choose a reason.
4. Follow the request status on the same page. If the refund is approved, the money goes back to the same payment method.

Apple reviews each request individually. In practice a first case involving a child is often decided in the parents' favour; repeat cases much less often, especially if purchase protection was never turned on.

Subscriptions and free trials

Subscriptions are a separate case. A child starts a «free trial week» in a game or app, and 7 days later the card starts being charged every month or every week. Such payments are easy to miss: the amounts are small, and the statement shows the same app store as for ordinary purchases.

• iPhone, iPad: Settings, your name, Subscriptions. With Family Sharing, a child's subscriptions show only under their own Apple ID, so check their device too.
• Android: the Google Play app, profile icon, Payments and subscriptions, Subscriptions.
• Consoles and Steam: the subscription management section in the account settings.

Cancelling a subscription stops future charges but doesn't automatically refund the period already paid: access simply stays until the period ends. If the charge was recent, request a refund for the last payment as well, using the same steps as for an ordinary purchase. Every few months it's worth going through the subscription list together with your child: that way they see what «small» monthly payments add up to over a year.

How to write a request that gets approved

Store and game support receives thousands of identical requests. Your chances are better if the message is short, specific and shows you've already taken action.

• Tell the truth. Don't call it theft or a hacked account if your child made the purchase: such claims are checked, and a false one can end with the account being banned.
• One request per purchase, or a list of all order numbers in one message if the form allows it.
• Don't spend what was bought until there's a decision: used currency or items are refunded less often.
• If refused, write again with a fuller explanation, or contact the game developer directly.

If the refund is refused

A refusal from the store isn't always final. Automated systems often reject requests that a person in support later approves.

1. Send a second request with more detail: your child's age, how exactly they got access to purchases, what you've already changed in the settings. Add a screenshot of Ask to Buy or purchase approval in Family Link turned on.
2. Write to the game developer. In Google Play after 48 hours the developer makes the decision anyway; the support address is on the game's page in the store. Large game companies have separate forms for purchases made by children.
3. Use the store's chat or phone support if the online form gives template answers. A live agent has more authority.
4. Ask your bank for advice if the amount is large and all answers are negative. The bank will say whether it sees grounds for a dispute and what documents it needs. Decide on a dispute only after weighing the risk of the account being blocked.

If the seller is Ukrainian (an online service, a shop, a gaming club), it operates under Ukrainian consumer protection law. Then a written claim citing the Civil Code rules on transactions by children (see the section below) carries more weight, and a complaint can be filed with the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.

Will the bank help

Many parents' first thought is to go to the bank and dispute the payment. This works worse than it seems. Under the Law «On Payment Services», a transaction counts as authorised if the payer gave consent for it. A purchase from your own phone or account with a saved card and confirmation from the same device looks like your own to the bank and the card scheme. Disputing such payments through the card scheme (a chargeback) usually ends in refusal, and the store may block the account in response.

It's worth bringing in the bank if:

• the store or developer refused and the amount is significant: ask the bank whether there are grounds for a dispute;
• the payment went through on a website that turned out to be fake or never delivered the purchase;
• your child gave the card details to strangers, and you don't recognise the charges.

In the last case act immediately: the law requires you to tell the bank about an unauthorised transaction as soon as you learn of it. Block the card in the app, call the bank, report it to the police. A step-by-step plan is in the article money stolen from your card.

What the law says about children's purchases

The Civil Code lets children under 14 make on their own only small everyday transactions: those that meet everyday needs, suit the child's age and concern an item of low value. A teenager from 14 to 18 can also manage their own earnings, grant or other income. Other transactions require the parents' consent, and a transaction made without it can be declared invalid.

Buying game currency for several thousand hryvnias with a parent's card doesn't fall under these exceptions. In practice, though, app stores and large game companies work under their own terms of service, where the account holder is responsible for purchases. So the Civil Code is an argument in a letter to a Ukrainian online service or in a dispute with a local seller. With international platforms, their own refund rules work faster.

Unusual situations

The child bought things on a grandparent's phone or someone else's console

The request has to come from the owner of the account the purchase was made from, that is, the grandparent or the other parents. Help them file it with the same steps and set a purchase password on that device at the same time. A grandparent's phone with one account for the whole family and a saved pension card is a common and poorly protected setup.

A teenager paid with their own card from their own money

A teenager from 14 can manage their own earnings and income, so the law treats a purchase with their own money as their decision. They can still ask the store for a refund under the general rules if the window hasn't closed. More important is agreeing on a gaming budget and discussing whether the purchase was worth money they earned. Keep in mind too: if the teenager's card is linked to a parent's account, the money on it legally belongs to the parent.

The purchases went on for several months

The stores' short windows have passed, but it's still worth trying: request refunds for all the purchases, describe the situation and what you've changed. Stores sometimes help with a first case even outside the window, especially when it's clear a child was paying: many small purchases in one game, in the evening, after school. Be prepared for a partial refund, and be sure to set up protection, or the next request will be reviewed more strictly.

The purchase went through but the item isn't in the game

This is a technical problem, and it's resolved in the buyer's favour more often: the store or the game will either refund the money or credit the item. Write to the game's support with the order number from the receipt screenshot.

Scams through games

Some «purchases» aren't purchases at all. Scammers look for children in game chats, on YouTube and in Telegram, because children are trusting and have access to their parents' phones. The most common schemes:

• «Free currency or skins». A video or website promises game currency for «account verification», which requires a login, password or card details.
• A «win» or a «gift». The child is told about a prize and asked to photograph mum's card on both sides «to receive it».
• The «gamer friend». A stranger plays together for a few days, moves the chat to private messages or Telegram, then asks for money, details or offers «paid tasks». The police warn that hostile intelligence services recruit children this way too.
• Buying or selling an account. The child pays for a «levelled-up» account or hands over their own for a promised payment, and ends up with neither money nor account.
• A fake login page. A site with an address similar to the real one steals the password, after which items are bought from the account.

How to set up protection in advance

Every major platform lets you either block purchases or require parental approval. Setting it up takes 10-15 minutes and closes most of the risks.

The second line of defence is money. Don't keep your main card on a device your child uses. For games, it's better to give the child their own card on your account with daily and monthly limits, or to top up the game balance with gift cards. Then the most you can lose is the balance on the card. How to choose a children's card and what limits to set by age is covered in detail in the article on children's bank cards.

The third line is notifications. Turn on push notifications in the bank's app for every transaction on your card and your child's. Then you'll see the very first purchase and have time to request a refund within 48 hours.

How to talk to your child about money in games

Game currency is deliberately separated from real money: «1,000 crystals» sounds like a toy, even though it stands for several hundred hryvnias. Children under 10-12 often genuinely don't understand that every tap on «Buy» takes real money from a parent's card. Explanation helps more than punishment here.

• Convert the currency into hryvnias. Look together at what a pack of game currency costs and compare it with something familiar: an ice cream, a cinema ticket, a new book.
• Set a gaming budget. For example, part of the monthly pocket money that the child can spend on games on their own. Anything above that only by agreement. How to build a pocket money system is described in the article on pocket money.
• Explain how the game makes money. «Today only» discounts, timers and loot boxes with a random prize are designed for impulse buying. Teenagers benefit from knowing that their emotions in that moment are part of the business model.
• Agree on an «ask first» rule. Any purchase, even with their own money, comes after a talk with the parents, until the child learns to judge it on their own.

Common mistakes parents make

• Waiting until the end of the month. Store refund windows are counted in hours and days, so check the statement as soon as a notification comes in.
• Disputing the payment with the bank instead of the store. A chargeback for a purchase from your own device almost always fails and can cost you the account with all its games.
• Calling the purchase a hack. If your child paid, say so: a false claim undermines trust in your future requests.
• Getting the money back and changing nothing. Stores compensate repeat cases much less often.
• Handing your child your phone with the banking app open. Games on a device with banking and saved cards are the easiest route to both accidental purchases and scammers.
• Scolding instead of explaining. A child who fears punishment will hide both the purchase and the scammer's message next time.

Sources

1. Google Play - request a refund: within 48 hours through Google Play, after that through the developer
2. Google Play - refund policies: unauthorised charges within 120 days, purchases by family members, refusal when an account is shared
3. Apple - request a refund for apps or content
4. Apple - Ask to Buy: parents approve children's purchases
5. Steam - refund policy: games within 14 days and under 2 hours played, in-game purchases in Valve games within 48 hours
6. PlayStation Store - cancellation and refund policy
7. Epic Games - cancelling a Fortnite purchase within 24 hours and Return Tickets for 30 days
8. Law of Ukraine «On Payment Services», Articles 42 and 87: authorised transactions, reporting unauthorised ones, 90 days for incorrect ones (in Ukrainian)
9. Civil Code of Ukraine, Articles 31, 32, 221, 222: transactions by minors (in Ukrainian)
10. UNN citing the National Police - hostile intelligence services recruit Ukrainian children through online games (the gamer friend scheme)

Refund rules in app stores and on gaming platforms are set by the companies themselves, and they may change and differ by country. This reflects the situation in November 2026; check the current terms on the support page before you apply. This is not legal advice.