South Australian Parliament member Russell Wortley only uses his iPhone for making calls. But his 13-year-old son is a fan of free football games, and downloaded a bunch of them on his father’s cell without permission. Wortley found out when he was hit with a $10,000 phone bill on his taxpayer-funded phone.
It isn’t clear whether the costs came from the actual download or the time spent playing the games, but the experience has has been enough to leave Wortley in shell shock over the potential burn of hidden smartphone charges. “I can’t believe somebody would be charged $4,000 for playing a game for one hour,” he said. “It sounds mind-boggling. People should know that they, or their children, could be innocently downloading games which they think are free, but at the end of the day they end up costing thousands of dollars.”
Wortley will remove the strain off Australian taxpayers and foot the bill himself. His son’s strain is likely just starting.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
