The young child managed to get Bali with his mum’s credit card.
Australian police are said to be investigating how a 12-year-old boy was able to board a flight to Bali and spend four days there after he stole his mother’s credit card.
The unnamed child eloped to Indonesia after an argument with parents. After doing extensive research for an airline that would permit him to fly solo, the enterprising boy then tricked his nan into handing over his passport.
By the time he was reported missing he was already in the four-star All Seasons Hotel.
Austrailian police are now looking into the events after the boy’s mother said it was far too easy for him to travel alone.
“It’s just too easy, it’s way too easy.
“There’s a problem in our system,” she told Australia’s Channel Nine as she called for more barriers to be put in place for young children travelling alone.
The worried mother went on to say that her son had previously tried to book flights to Bali but was rejected when he didn’t have a letter of approval from his parents.
“We begged for help [from Australian police] for weeks on end,” she said.
“When the first attempt to Indonesia took place, we were told his passport was going to be flagged.”
The boy was eventually found when a friend saw a geotagged post on his social media and alerted his parents.
Police say they are now looking into the situation in the hopes that it will never happen again.
“The Australian Federal Police will work with partner agencies to review the circumstances of this matter and current operating procedures, to ensure this type of incident does not occur again.”
The trip is said to have cost the family roughly AU$8,000 (€4,900).
