Parents caught out by pricey app traps

A SEVEN-year-old who clocked up a $497 bill while playing on a "free" iPhone app for 20 minutes has sparked warnings to parents.

PARENTS have become accustomed to handing over their mobile phones to keep bored kids happy, but they are being warned it can be an expensive trap.

Bowie McGrath, 7, of South Hobart, gave his mum a shock when, after only 20 minutes, he managed to rack up a $497 bill playing a seemingly innocent game on her iPhone.

"I was doing some sewing and he was only playing this game for 20 minutes or so but then I realised he was pressing the OK button when these little pop-ups came up," Bowie's mother Samantha Adams told The Mercury.

The game was Tiny Zoo, which is free to download from the Apple iTunes apps store. Players build a virtual zoo and "collect" animals.

Parents have been warned to be wary of such "free" mobile phone apps.

"Often the children playing these games don't realise it is costing real money, they think they are using pretend money as they are buying pretend things," Tasmania's Consumer Protection Minister Nick McKim said.