Father lost vigilance, son "burned" more than 2.4 billion VND on gambling
Due to his family's lack of vigilance, a 13-year-old British boy spent 80,000 pounds (equivalent to more than 2.4 billion VND) from his father's credit cards on online betting games.
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According to the Daily Mail, the sad story happened to a schoolboy in Lancashire, northwest England. The boy started betting online after seeing an advertisement for bookmakers online, while watching a football match at Wembley Stadium.
The boy then used his mobile phone to secretly take photos of his father's, a business director, credit cards and used his identity to set up an online betting account.
The boy quickly became addicted to online sports betting. He bet hundreds of times a week on horse racing or football matches, up to £3,000 (nearly 91 million VND) each time.
The boy told the Mirror: "I didn't know that gambling could be as addictive as smoking, drinking or taking drugs. It seemed like fun and I thought I could make money too."
His family was almost torn apart after discovering that their son had "burned" a huge amount of money on online gambling. His parents had to take him to see a psychotherapist to help him overcome his gambling addiction.
The boy is among 25,000 British teenagers aged 11 to 16 who are addicted to gambling, according to government statistics. British MPs are calling for tighter advertising regulations to prevent children from being drawn into gambling.
Authorities also recommend that parents keep personal credit cards carefully to avoid their children from abusing them without understanding.
