A data breach can cause havoc and long-lasting damage. Just ask those Following a data breach at Equifax that exposed the social security numbers (SSN’s) of millions of people. The credit bureau, Equifax, will spend millions in restitution to those affected.
Equifax, one of the three major credit reporting agencies in the USA. A settlement in the amount of $700 million was reached with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after they exposed the information of around 147 million people. The amount could climb as high as $425 million and will go to directly help those affected by the breach.
Equifax is offering affected consumers a one-time $125 payment or up to 10 years of free credit monitoring and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. First, consumers need to find out if their information was exposed.
- Click here to check with Equifax if they exposed your information. You will need to provide your last name and the last six numbers of your social security number.
- If you were affected, click here to file a claim with the FTC and either get a $125 settlement payment or free credit monitoring. You will again need to list some private information.
- Consumers can also upload supporting documents from time and money spent checking or recovering from identity theft. Equifax may provide a max of $20,000 in reimbursement for these expenses.
Alongside filing a claim in the Equifax settlement, consumers are also legally entitled to a free credit report once a year. To watch for suspicious activity, AnnualCreditReport.com offers a combined report from Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union.
If you remember, just three years ago (it seems like forever to many of us), Equifax was hit with a massive data breach that exposed sensitive financial information for over 145 million people. The company eventually settled lawsuits and promised payments to everyone affected, which led to a very simple promise: Those affected would get a $125 check.
Unfortunately, nothing is that simple. If you know you were affected by the Equifax breach (you should have received notification about this some time ago, but there’s a webpage where you can check), you may be wondering just when that check is going to arrive – unfortunately, a whole bunch of caveats applies.
