Many popular mobile games for kids and teens claim to be free but can quickly rack up charges from in-app purchases. Here's how to protect your wallet!

First and foremost, experts advise parents to keep a watchful eye on their child's gaming activities to make sure that they don't end up spending a lot of money while gaming.

Most of the games can usually be played for free, but the catch is that it takes a lot of time to reach the end. To speed up your progress, game developers offer additional content and tools for speedier or enhanced gameplay for a small fee – the cost is deliberately kept low to reduce users' inhibitions about paying.

These small individual purchases can quickly add up. However, depending on your credit card issuer, you might still be liable even if your kids make purchases without your knowledge.

Instead of having to potentially shell out for unauthorized purchases made by a child as one mom in Brazil did, there are a few steps you can take to keep your kids from spending very real money on fantasy purchases:

First, you don't have to understand how the game is played to be able to check the game's settings to see if it is connected to a payment method. Never store bank or credit card details on a child's smartphone or tablet.

Second, check if there is an option to create a "kid's account" for their game that can be more easily monitored.

Third, contact your network provider about placing a lock on your account to stop unwanted debits made directly to your bill. In-app purchases can often be deactivated in a device's general settings or can be blocked using password protection.

Finally, use a prepaid card to help limit purchases if you want to allow a certain amount, but don't want to wake up to a drained bank account!