According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the girl found a debit card in her home and linked it to her smartphone to pay for the games.

She also knew the password, as her mother had told her it case she needed money in their absence, MS News reports.

The discovery of the masses amounts of money spent emerged when one of the girl’s teachers noticed that the girl would spend a lot of time on her phone. The teacher informed her mother that she was worried the child had an addiction to online pay-to-play games.

When the girl’s mother checked her bank balance, she found she had only 0.5 yuan – worth around five pence – in her account.

Debates have since been swirling on the internet as to who is more to blame – the child or her parents.