Equifax breach: You can now file a claim for your share of the $ 700 million settlement

You can now file a claim if you were among the 147 million people whose data was exposed in the big Equifax Data Violation in 2017 to recover the money you have spent or lost as a result of hacking. The Federal Trade Commission announced Monday that Equifax has agreed to pay at least $ 575 million and up to $ 700 million to help compensate the victims of hackers who stole data from Equifax customers. Payments under the settlement may cover the costs of recovering the security breach of the company's free credit badessment – including recovery of the theft of your identity – as well as unauthorized charges on your account. You can also submit a claim to cover the cost of identity theft protection, as a result of the data breach by Equifax.

The offense in question resulted in hackers stealing social security numbers, addresses, credit card and driver's license information, birth dates and other stored personal data. on the Equifax servers. As part of its investigation, the FTC alleged that the free credit bureau had not taken reasonable steps to secure its network.

Taking part in the rules is not totally simple. To begin, you can confirm that you are part of the violation. Then gather all the documents you linked to the hack. And finally, submit your claim for compensation. You have until January 22, 2020 to file.

The exact amount that Equifax will disburse is indeterminate. The proposed settlement will begin with a $ 300 million fund to compensate affected consumers who have purchased credit monitoring services. Equifax will also pay $ 175 million to states and districts – and $ 100 million to the Office of Consumer Financial Protection in civil penalties.

If the $ 300 million initial infusion does not adequately compensate consumers, according to the FTC, Equifax has agreed to add an additional $ 125 million to the fund, for a potential total settlement of $ 700 million. If you are an applicant, your share of the settlement could include free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. You may also be eligible for cash payments to cover expenses resulting from the violation – such as legal fees and credit monitoring – of free help to recover from identity theft and reports of theft. free credit for 10 years.

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Equifax will pay up to $ 700 million for its historic data breach

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Here's how to participate in the rules.

Prepare and submit your request

On the Equifax Data Breach Settlement website, you can now file a claim to recover the money you lost as a result of a large-scale hacking. Here's how to prepare and then submit a claim.

• To substantiate your claim, you must gather all the documents and receipts related to the violation to indicate the expenses that you had to recover from an identity theft, for example, as well as the money lost because of the violation.
• To follow the rules, the FTC suggests that you sign up to receive updates by email.
• You can also check the FTC Equifax Data Violation Policy page and the official data breach policy page for updates.
• And the FTC has a number that you can call – (833) 759-2982 – for updates.
• On the official settlement site, you file a claim online.
• You can also follow the instructions to mail your application or receive an application form by mail.
• As part of the application process, you will select the benefits to which you are entitled and review the documents to support your application.

Find out if you've been hit by the breach

If you want to check if your data has been exposed, the FTC and the official settlement site have an online tool that you can use to check if you are part of the breach by Equifax.

You will need to enter your last name and last six digits of your Social Security number to see if your data was part of the hack.

What will the settlement payments cover?

The proposed agreement caps payments to $ 20,000 per person to cover the expenses you have spent to remedy the violation. Here are the costs and expenses you may be able to recover.

• Fees for unauthorized charges on your accounts
• Costs of freezing a credit report and monitoring credit
• Fees paid to accountants, lawyers and other professionals
• Postage, mileage, notary and other services
• Cost of monitoring Equifax credit and other services for the year prior to the breach.

In addition, starting in 2020, Equifax will provide all US consumers – whether or not they are part of the settlement – six additional free credit reports per year for seven years, from their website.

When should I file a claim

The FTC has stated that you must submit your claim no later than January 22, 2020. The sooner you receive the benefits you are entitled to is January 23, 2020, the FTC said.

This is the information we currently know, with a lot of details to come. We will update this story as we learn more.