Unauthorised Charges by Boku on My Daughter’s Phone Bill – Advice Needed

[Nkosi]

Hi everyone,I’m posting here to raise awareness and seek advice about an issue I’ve encountered with unauthorised charges on my daughter’s mobile phone bill.

I recently noticed extra charges on her phone account, which is under my name and managed by me. Her monthly bill is capped, so it shouldn’t exceed the contracted amount. After contacting the provider (Three), I discovered that these charges were for Boku.com, a third-party payment service that works with my provider.

The charges were for PlayStation Network services, but neither I nor my 12-year-old daughter own a PlayStation or have a PlayStation Network account. Importantly, my daughter is a minor and cannot legally enter into such agreements. Even if she attempted to subscribe to anything, it would require my authorisation, which never happened.

What’s worse is that we had never heard of Boku before this, never signed up for their services, and were never notified of any agreements or charges.

This situation raises several concerns for me:

1. How was Boku able to authorise charges without explicit consent from me as the account holder?

2. Why wasn’t I notified about these transactions before they were billed?

From my research, it seems this could violate UK consumer protection laws, including:

• The Consumer Rights Act 2015, which ensures protection from unauthorised charges.

• The Payment Services Regulations 2017, which require clear consent for payments.

• The UK GDPR, which protects personal data from being used without explicit permission.

I’ve already contacted Boku to demand an immediate refund and assurance that my daughter’s phone number will not be used for their services again. However, I wanted to share my experience here in case others have faced similar issues and to ask:

1. Has anyone else experienced unauthorised charges from Boku or similar third-party services?

2. What steps did you take to resolve the issue?

3. Do you think I should escalate this to the Financial Ombudsman or the ICO if I don’t get a satisfactory response?

I’ll keep this post updated with any progress, but for now, I want to warn others to check their phone bills carefully—especially for numbers used by children.Thanks in advance for any advice or similar stories you can share!

[PeteG]

I'm glad you got your refund. 

Pete. 

[Mark_Ford]

Hi. I've just discovered charges like this on my daughter's account. She says she's completely unaware of how they could have happened. She's 16, not in the same position re being a minor, but we have no Playstation.

I've not taken any steps yet, but would be interested to know how you get on. I'm first going to explore the possibility of someone using her phone/phone without her knowledge.

[JonathanB]

Hi @Mark_Ford,

I'm really sorry to hear this has happened. In the first instance we'd advise to dispute with Boku, and my understanding is that they can block her number from being used with any connected services in the future,

In terms of someone else using the phone, the transactions should need a text message code to authorise when initially setting this up on the Playstation or relevant website or app. So someone would need to either read the message, or have the authorisation code disclosed to them.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[montiee22]

Hi there.

thank you so much for posting this we got a huge bill this morning 3x payments of 39.99 and one of 13.00 from Boku taking this out on the 16th April and was for PlayStation services. We don't even have an account with these people and have no idea how to get this resolved. 3 are telling us to call Boku and we did and PlayStation also said the same. Boku said they are not responsible as they act on behalf of 3rd parties. This is my 11 year old daughters phone and no subscriptions or apps downloaded even on this day. 

Please help us and tell us if you got this resolved as we are at the end of our tether.

maria

[Iclads]

Hello, I have just had this happen…

ADVICE - when you call Boku the email address they tell you to email is incorrect!! It’s support@boku.com not the support.Boku that they advertise… utterly wrong!

Three are as much use a a chocolate teapot, i threatened to terminate my contract, it was only at this point that Three offered to contact Boku on my behalf. I had already contacted the correct Boku support email and had a case logged with them.

i ended up cancelling my Three contract as I was so applauded by the lack of support and incapability of turning off third party charges - the excuses for this are so poor! I figured that no contract would mean nothing could be billed going forward. 

Boku have now responded and said they have blocked the number, great. They have also given me options to support a POSSIBLE refund and investigation. However, they are requesting my bank details…. Given the circumstances I’m not comfortable to do this! I’ve requested a good old fashioned cheque in the post or it refunded back to Three. I don’t believe this will go anywhere if I’m honest.

i have now logged a case with the FCA, and have started communications with watchdog - I believe Three, Sony, and Boku know exactly what they are doing, and are complicit in this disgusting behaviour.

Bottom line, Third party charges should be possible to be disabled!

[Clairedin]

Update since my last post, BoKU did eventually refund me the full £189 ans it was credited to my three account on 8th March, I am now having problems with three refunding the money back into my bank account. I have been told on 4 separate occasions the customer services has raised a refund request and this would be back into my bank account in 7 working days and I am still waiting. Last week i raised a complaint they advised would remain open until I received my refund. Today I missed a call and by time I called back I was told they had closed my complaint as i hadn’t responded. It is getting ridiculous now, they told me the refund request had been rejected but they couldn’t provide a reason so I have made a complaint with the ombudsman. 

[Ccrane1985]

Do you have a copy of the email you sent to boku for the refund? Would be a massive help as my daughters account has also been used! 

[zobo86]

Thanks for posting. I have just had a £145 charge on my bill for my son. I feel the kids are being tricked into giving their number and the pin and then we are out of pocket, either that or theres something else going on. My issue is the spending cap. I believed this was a safety net for us parents, turns out that makes no difference. Its the credit limit that's applied to the account, which apparently set up. Theres no way Id set that up for my child's account 🤔 so that is my main complaint as Three are saying I cannot lower this as its been set up so my complaint has gone further

[lubo]

Hi Everyone - I had a similar issue with my Jan/ Feb bill.  I contacted 3 and the Ombudsmen to resolve the issue. I can confirm I've received a FULL REFUND from Boku after writing to them, basically informing them I was going to raise the case with the FCA (as Boku is regulated).  Please write directly to Boku at the email address: 

support@boku.zendesk.com 

[Costa1975]

I just canceled the direct debit. If three can not protect me then O2 can. If hey explained that could never happen with them.