Child Uses Mom’s Credit Card To Order 77,000 Dum-Dums From Amazon

A Kentucky mom and her son, Holly and Liam LaFavers, are making headlines after an unexpected $4,200 Amazon charge. Turns out, Liam accidentally ordered 30 boxes of Dum-Dums lollipops — a candy haul no one saw coming.

In an interview with Good Morning America, LeFavers said she found out about the ridiculous purchase after randomly checking her bank account while preparing for church. “I just immediately panicked,” clueless as to why her balance was negative. After seeing the charge came from Amazon, she found that Liam had ordered over 70,000 Dum-Dums. 

LeFavers admitted letting him play on her cell phone as a reward and likely left the Amazon app open. But this was the first time he’d ordered anything. “He knows he’s not allowed to push the [order] button,” she added. She attempted to initiate a refund but received the first 22 boxes anyway, which Liam found when he went outside one day to ride his scooter. “My suckers are here!” he screamed, according to LeFavers. She intercepted the remaining eight boxes when they arrived two hours later and had them sent back. 

Stuck with thousands of Dum-Dums, LeFavers made a Facebook post hoping to offload some. In a surprising turn, or proof that Dum-Dums has an impressive fanbase, she sold every box in two hours to friends, family and strangers. “My friends and family in Somerset truly stepped up and they were able to help,” LeFavers said. “They understood that it wasn’t anything malicious, and that I was an honest person. That’s amazing.”

Meanwhile, Liam, who was diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) at age 4, doesn’t appear to realize that what he did was wrong. The condition he has can cause physical, behavioral and cognitive challenges, per the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Despite the Dum-Dums debacle, she’s taking it pretty well and said, “Don’t panic. And I panicked, I can say now that I’m on the other side of it, don’t panic,” she said. “Everything will eventually work out. Just have faith that everything will be OK, because it will be fine, and make sure you lock your phone.”