We’ve read reports of preschoolers accidentally making expensive in-app purchases from app stores or ordering pizza on parents’ smartphones and iPads. But have you ever heard of a pet fish shopping online? Yes, not a parrot or dog or cat, but fish in a bowl! as bizarre as it may sound, it happened in Japan.
YouTube game streamer, nicknamed Mutekimaru, is popular for playing with his pet Tetra fish on Nintendo Switch. As reported by CNN, Mutekimaru installed advanced motion sensors in the aquarium to alter fish movements to control movement on Nintendo Switch games.
During a recent game session, a glitch caused the Pokemon game Mutekimaru and his pet fish were playing to crash and return to the Nintendo Switch platform home screen. The former took a break and after returning, to his horror, the sensors in the water tank made the fish move through the settings on the Nintendo UI.
Guess what the fish did? It managed to change the name of the owner’s Switch account, including unchecking the legal terms, setting up a Pay Pal account, and purchasing an avatar (an animated profile picture) for the owner, and adding 500 yen ($4) to the profile’s Switch account. The live video streaming also revealed Mutekimaru’s credit card information (later deleted).
The video went viral on social media platforms such as Twitter. Mutekimaru reportedly explained the strange scenario to Nintendo and asked for a refund. But there is still no response from the company.
It seems too flimsy to believe, but we’re curious to see if Nintendo is ready to believe that story.
Here’s Mutekimaru’s YouTube channel with the video of his pet fish playing Pokemon:
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