“How did I do this? Why was I so stupid?” Karen Hasick told a local media outlet
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NEED TO KNOW
- Karen Hasick says she lost nearly $35,000 and maxed out credit cards after using an online dating site
- The 74-year-old, from North Carolina, suspects the man she communicated with on DateMyAge may have been a bot after he disappeared from the platform, which the company denies
- Hasick and her daughter Cori declined a partial refund and are raising awareness to prevent others from experiencing the same
A 74-year-old woman says she is nearly $35,000 out of pocket and in thousands of dollars of credit card debt after speaking to a man on an online dating site.
Karen Hasick, a North Carolina woman, turned to online dating on the platform DateMyAge, explaining, “I’m really tired of not having anybody to do things with, to go out with, to, you know, just have conversations with,” she told ABC 11.
The platform caters to older people looking to find love. Upon signing up, Hasick said she was offered a free month. “They gave you a month free, and I tried it, and I was getting, I was getting 100 hits a day,” she said, but it was one man in particular, 43-year-old Noah, who caught her attention.
“He was very good-looking, very, you know, muscular, built, nice-looking guy,” she told the outlet, recalling that she would directly ask Noah about their age difference, but he said, “Age is not a factor.”
Once her free month expired, she needed to pay for the monthly membership and the additional credits to direct message and chat with Noah.
Hasick said she paid $100 for 160 credits and $400 for 1,000 credits. “In a week’s time, I was probably spending two, $3,000 sometimes,” she explained.
She added that she gave Noah — who was a free user, meaning he did not have to pay to communicate— her number and email address, but he only wanted to communicate on the platform.
“I was finding money any place I could, you know, to pay for it, and my credit cards were maxed out. I went through all my cash,” she said. Hasick said she then directly addressed Noah about the rising costs, telling him, “You don’t have to pay for any of this. I do, and it’s costing me a fortune. I’m going through all my money.”
Nearly $35,000 later, and after a failed attempt to meet him in person—Hasick bought a plane ticket to meet Noah in Brazil but said he told her not to come for safety reasons—she gave him an ultimatum. She proposed their relationship would end if they didn’t meet in person. After that message, she said his profile was no longer on the platform days later.
Now, she and her daughter, Cori Waldschmidt, suspect Noah could have been a bot. “I feel like they took advantage of her, and I just don’t want anybody else to have to experience, you know, the financial piece of it,” Waldschmidt, who was never informed what was happening with Noah, told ABC 11.
Hasick and Waldschmidt filed a complaint with DateMyAge.
The company denied the claims of bots, saying each account is verified, moderated and monitored. “We remain committed to providing a safe, respectful and reliable service for our customers and to addressing legitimate concerns through our established customer support and complaints processes,” the statement read, per ABC 11.
DateMyAge said they would refund $1,861 worth of charges and an additional $1,000. Waldschmidt said they declined the offer and are working to spread awareness.
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Hasick confessed, “It was my kid’s inheritance, and now I have nothing,” also adding, “How did I do this? Why was I so stupid?” Hasick said.
Despite what happened to Hasick, she hopes her story “can keep it from happening to somebody else.”
PEOPLE reached out to DateMyAge for comment.
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