Moore County woman says online romance left her nearly $35,000 in debt: 'Why was I so stupid?'
MOORE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A 74-year-old Moore County woman says she spent nearly $35,000 on an online relationship; money she says was meant to be part of her children's inheritance.
Now, Karen Hasick said she is left with thousands of dollars in credit card debt and questions about whether the man she was communicating with online was ever real.
"How did I do this? Why was I so stupid?" Hasick said.
Hasick says she got caught up in an online romance that lasted for more than a year.
"It was my kid's inheritance, and now I have nothing," Hasick said.
Hasick says she turned to online dating because she was lonely and wanted someone to spend time with.
"I'm really tired of not having anybody to do things with, to go out with, to, you know, just have conversations with," Hasick said.
She joined the online dating platform DateMyAge, which describes itself as a dating site for mature but young-at-heart singles. Hasick said she was offered a free month on the platform.
"They gave you a month free, and I tried it, and I was getting, I was getting 100 hits a day," she said.
One man, whom she says went by Noah, caught her attention.
I was finding money any place I could, you know, to pay for it, and my credit cards were maxed out. You know, I went through all my cash.- Karen Hasick
"He was very good looking, very, you know, muscular, built, nice looking guy," Hasick said.
But there was a significant age difference. Hasick says Noah was 43.
"Why are you interested in someone my age? I said, that's a pretty big age difference. You're young enough to be my son. And he was like, 'well, age is not a factor,'" she recalled.
After the free month ended, Hasick says she paid for a monthly membership. She says she also had to purchase credits to continue communicating with Noah on the DateMyAge platform. Hasick says the credits allowed her to use direct messaging and live chat on the DateMyAge platform.
"I would spend $400 for a thousand credits, $100 for 160 credits. And in a week's time, I was probably spending two, $3,000 sometimes," she said.
Hasick says she tried to take the conversation off the dating platform by giving Noah her phone number and email address. However, she said, Noah was a free user, meaning he did not have to pay to communicate, while she did. Hasick says he would only communicate with her through DateMyAge.
"I was finding money any place I could, you know, to pay for it, and my credit cards were maxed out. You know, I went through all my cash," she said.
At one point, Hasick says she confronted Noah about the money she was spending.
"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," she said she told him.
Hasick said they did have plans to meet; she even bought a plane ticket to meet Noah in Brazil, but just days before she was supposed to leave, she said Noah told her not to come; it was too dangerous.
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.- Cori Waldschmidt, daughter
Hasick says she eventually gave Noah an ultimatum: They needed to meet in person or the relationship was over. Just days later, Hasick says Noah's profile disappeared from DateMyAge. She said she had spent nearly $35,000 communicating with him through the platform.
"If nothing else, I hope I can keep it from happening to somebody else," Hasick said.
Hasick's daughter, Cori Waldschmidt, says her mother kept much of what was happening from her because she was embarrassed. Waldschmidt says she worries other people could be vulnerable to similar situations.
"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 said.
Both mother and daughter say they now question whether Noah was a real person or a bot because all of the communication took place through the DateMyAge platform.
Hasick and her daughter filed a complaint with DateMyAge. In an email response, the company said, in part, that every profile on its platform must represent a real individual who personally uses the account. The company said bots and third-party operators are prohibited and that it uses identity verification, manual moderation, and automated monitoring. DateMyAge also said purchases are generally non-refundable. However, the company refunded Hasick $1,861 worth of charges and offered another $1,000 refund as a goodwill payment in exchange for a full and final settlement.
Waldschmidt said they are not accepting the offer because they want to make people aware of how the site transacts business.
"Be aware of what can happen and do their due diligence to make sure that they're not taken advantage of," Waldschmidt said.
DateMyAge told Troubleshooter Diane Wilson that because of privacy obligations, it could not comment on Hasick's case but said it is still working to reach a satisfactory resolution.
The company added, "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."
