Canadian dad discovers $8,000 bill from his FIFA Ultimate Teen

No matter how much money you've shame-spent on in-game microtransactions, at least you can feel frugal next to the son of Lance Perkins. Perkins, a convenience store owner from Pembroke, Ontario, discovered just before Christmas that his 17-year-old child - who has still not been disowned as of press time - spent nearly $8,000 ($5,624 USD / £3,863 GBP) on FIFA, CBC reports.

Perkins' son (who wasn't named in the story) was only supposed to use the credit card for emergencies, or to make purchases for the family's store. But when Perkins got the bill on December 23, both he and his son were "'literally floored." Improper use aside, the son said he had no idea he'd spent nearly so much money ... which is exactly the kind of thing I'd say if my dad came to me with a several-thousand-dollar bill for virtual soccer players.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.