Woman loses life savings, sues casino-style app

Wilkinson spent $50,000 on the app, which she said ruined her life

Muhammad Waseem alias Waseem Beater took the reins as the gambling lord of Karachi after the killing of Shoaib Khan. PHOTO: STOCK IMAGE

ANKARA:

A woman who lost her life savings on a casino-style application is now suing the responsible company, according to a report on Tuesday.

Kathleen Wilkinson, a grandmother from rural Montana, injured her spine in 2016 and then saw a slot machine ad that appeared on Facebook.

"First it was fun. Then I started spending money on it a little bit. Then I got to be more and more," she told NBC News.

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Wilkinson spent $50,000 on the app, which she said ruined her life. "You become addicted like anybody that had never been in a casino before, and they go back there every single day."

Others told the news outlet they lost between $10,000 to $400,000 playing similar games on various apps.

DoubleDown Interactive, which is used by millions of people every month, including Wilkinson, reported annual revenue of more than $273 million in 2020.

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"Once a player is acquired, our proprietary analytic tools dissect their playing behavior on a granular level," according to the company’s financial statement.

Wilkinson's attorney, who recently reached a $155 million settlement with a similar firm, Big Fish, in a class-action lawsuit, is now suing DoubleDown.

Social casino apps, which interact with players through apps and videos, have seen a stark rise in users during the coronavirus pandemic due to lockdowns.

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