A tap on a glowing “buy now” button rarely feels like a financial decision to a child immersed in a game. Yet that single tap, repeated across days or weeks, has begun draining family bank accounts across urban India at an alarming pace. A family in Greater Noida is reported to have lost close to ₹29 lakh in a case linked to online gaming activity, a sum that underscores how quickly innocuous in-app purchases can spiral into major cyber fraud.
The incident has renewed scrutiny of how Indian households manage children’s access to smartphones, digital wallets and UPI-linked payment systems. Cybersecurity researchers say the pattern is now familiar to police cyber cells across the country: a device meant for entertainment becomes, almost by accident, a gateway to a family’s savings.
The Arithmetic of Small, Repeated Payments
Modern games are engineered around incremental spending. Digital coins, character skins, extra lives and premium levels are priced deliberately low, often between ₹100 and ₹500, so that no single purchase feels significant. Children frequently do not register that these transactions draw on real money rather than in-game credit.
The danger multiplies once a payment method, whether a saved card, UPI handle or net banking login, is already linked to the device. Cyber cells in cities including Hyderabad have found that many complaints initially reported as hacking or unauthorised access actually trace back to children making repeated in-game purchases through a parent’s or grandparent’s account. Elderly family members are particularly exposed, since their phones are more likely to have stored payment credentials and are less frequently monitored.
Because each transaction is small, the losses accumulate quietly. By the time unusual SMS alerts or banking notifications are noticed, the cumulative damage has often already run into thousands or even lakhs of rupees.
Permissions, Privacy and the Wider Data Risk
The financial angle is only part of the concern. When a gaming app is downloaded, it frequently requests access to the camera, microphone, contacts and storage, permissions that have little bearing on actual gameplay. Children rarely question why such access is required, and few parents audit these settings once a game is installed.
National Crime Records Bureau data reflects the scale of the broader problem facing minors online. Cyber crime cases involving children rose sharply between 2020 and 2024, with gaming platforms and chat applications increasingly cited as entry points for both financial exploitation and more serious forms of abuse. Uttar Pradesh has featured prominently among states reporting such cases in recent NCRB figures.
Excessive permissions compound the risk when a device also carries banking applications. A compromised camera or contact list can be leveraged well beyond the original game, particularly if a child is later contacted by strangers met through multiplayer platforms or in-game chat features.
Building Safer Digital Habits at Home
Consumer protection frameworks in India, including provisions under the Consumer Protection Act and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, offer some recourse against apps that target minors unfairly or harvest their data without consent. Enforcement, however, remains uneven, leaving much of the responsibility for prevention with families themselves.
Practical safeguards exist and are increasingly recommended by cyber police units. Enabling biometric authentication for UPI applications, restricting in-app purchases through parental controls and using a separate, limited payment arrangement for a child’s device can meaningfully reduce exposure. Regularly reviewing installed apps and their granted permissions is equally important, particularly on devices that also carry banking access.
Equally significant is the household response when a mistake occurs. Cyber cell officials note that children who fear punishment are less likely to report a suspicious payment, a stray link or an uncomfortable message promptly, allowing losses to compound before intervention. Encouraging children to disclose errors without fear, alongside routine monitoring of bank alerts, remains among the most effective defences against a threat that continues to grow alongside India’s expanding base of young smartphone users.
