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Facebook duped game-playing kids and parents out of money, lawsuit says

Posted at 11:08 AM, Jan 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-25 14:08:06-05

Unsealed court documents state Facebook refused to give hundreds or even thousands of dollars back to children and their parents who played online games and were targeted to expand revenue.

Reveal reports the records are part of a class-action lawsuit focused on how Facebook targeted kids playing games such as Angry Birds, PetVille and Ninja Saga, Wild Ones and more. It is called "friendly fraud."

The 135 pages of unsealed documents, which include internal Facebook memos and strategies, show how the social media giant conducted business, encouraging game developers to let children spend money without permission from their parents guardians.

Reveal also reports the documents show the children often did not know they were spending money, and that is according to an internal Facebook report. Many of the parents did not know Facebook was storing their credit card information.

It appears Facebook ignored warnings from its own employees that it was bamboozling children, Reveal reports . Employees suggested giving money back, but leaders did not respond to those suggestions.

Read the full story from our content partners at revealnews.org.