A father says his nine-year-old son spent $118,000 from his company credit card on YouTube advertising campaigns for his Minecraft and Roblox videos before the charges were discovered by his employer.
Dave explained what happened in a video uploaded to the Mighty Mike Plays YouTube channel, which is run by his son, Mike. The boy’s channel features gameplay from Minecraft and Roblox, and Dave said it began as a simple way for his son to share the games he enjoyed.
According to Dave, he originally helped Mike create a small $20 YouTube ad campaign after the boy became frustrated that his videos were not attracting views or subscribers. Dave said he walked his son through the process of setting a budget, choosing an audience, and launching the campaign.
The spending continued for three weeks
Dave said he had previously saved his company card to the Google account connected to his work email, calendar, files, and payment methods. After watching his father create the $20 campaign, Mike allegedly returned to the advertising tools and began creating campaigns of his own.
“He didn’t really register that was supposed to be some kind of limit in his head,” Dave said. “The logic was simple, I guess. More money, more views.”
The father said he was later called into a meeting with his manager, corporate representatives, and finance staff. During the meeting, employees showed him a breakdown of advertising spending from the previous three weeks and asked him to explain $118,000 in charges on the company card assigned to him.
Dave said the transactions were tied to videos with titles including “Mighty Mike,” “Epic Roblox,” and Minecraft gameplay. He added that three of the promoted videos had reached around 200,000 views, but said he had not yet been told whether the company would require him to repay the money or whether he would keep his job.
The father repeatedly said he did not believe his son understood the significance of the spending, but acknowledged that he was responsible for leaving the payment information available without spending limits or parental controls.
Dave said the family plans to remove saved payment details, add spending caps, and set up parental controls. He also said the Mighty Mike Plays channel could be paused while the situation is reviewed.
The video ends with Dave saying the family will work through the situation together, while warning that the channel may not return until “real guard rails” are in place. When asked is Mighty Mike has anything to say to his viewers, the 9-year-old replied, “I’m deffinitely cooked.”
Dave’s account, including the $118,000 figure and the company’s response, has not been independently verified.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
