A 12-year-old boy left by his migrant worker parents reportedly spent thousands of his mother’s money on gifts given to online gaming hosts, online news media reports.

The boy’s mother was surprised to know that a total of 28,600 Yuan disappeared from her bank account, and was reportedly transferred to an internet company in Guangzhou, southern China, reports the Fujian Daily news portal Mnw.cn.

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The boy, identified only as Lin, admitted that he spent the money buying virtual gifts, including an order for virtual weapons worth 4,999 Yuan, to give to online anchors found in Huya.com, an online website for video games that allows users or players to interact with young online hosts.

Lin said that he gave the gifts to those who helped him in with the games, adding that his relationship to the host was ‘like teacher and student.’ Of course, Lin received a grilling from his mom.

Lin’s father said that because of their work in the city, they had to leave Lin to grow up beside and be raised by his grandparents. Social workers, however, said that migrant worker parents need to develop a closer relationship with the kids they leave for work, most especially as these young ones enter the adolescent stage.

Lawyers working on the case said Lin was too young to be able to spend such a large amount of money by himself. The Guangzhou-based website, for its part, said they tracked the transaction and promised Lin’s parents that they will refund the whole sum of money that Lin spent for the gifts.

Online anchors, like the ones mentioned in Lin’s experience, normally interact with fans using online live videos. They have already become very popular, and with the rising popularity of online games especially amongst younger men, these anchors can reach extremely popular levels.

Tagsmigrant workers, online games, online anchors, online gaming hosts, Huya.com