Yes, the Equifax Data Breach Settlement email and website are real. Although the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has previously warned of people attempting to scam Equifax cyberattack victims, EquifaxBreachSettlement.com is a real website and the email Dan received is legitimate, an FTC spokesperson confirmed to VERIFY.
How to protect yourself from the Equifax data breach?
Your guide to surviving the Equifax data breach
- Enroll in Equifax's program (or just move on to step 2) Equifax's identity protection program, Trusted ID, is being offered to anyone who wants to enroll. ...
- Check your credit reports. More than three months passed between the time the breach may have started and now. ...
- Freeze your credit. ...
- Set a fraud alert. ...
- Repeat the process for your loved ones. ...
What to do about the Equifax credit data breach?
What to do if your information has been hacked
- Watch your credit inquiry. “Anytime someone checks credit it’s a hit on your credit score,” Chapman said. ...
- Freeze your credit reports. You can freeze your Equifax account, consumer advocate and chairman of security firm CyberScout, told Marketwatch.
- strengthen your password. ...
What you should do after Equifax data breach?
- Everyone should monitor their bank and credit card accounts to spot unauthorized activity. ...
- You should also place a fraud alert with each of the three major CRAs. ...
- You can consider signing up for Equifax’ credit monitoring service. ...
- You may want to take an additional step: placing a security freeze. ...
Could you be affected by the Equifax data breach?
The company said it discovered the data breach in July 2017. The unauthorized access of personal data that was exposed by Equifax could increase the risk of identity theft for anyone affected.
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Did anyone get money from Equifax?
Court Approves Equifax Breach Settlement: Money for Some, Free Credit Monitoring for All. Equifax will pay up to $425 million in restitution to those directly impacted by the massive data breach of the credit bureau in 2017. A federal court gave final approval to the class-action lawsuit settlement in mid-January.
Is the Equifax data breach settlement email legit?
Legitimate emails about the settlement will come from Equifax Breach Settlement Administrator
How much can you get from a data breach settlement?
Under the settlement terms, Equifax agreed to set up a fund to provide free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to consumers, as well as provide cash payments to people affected by the breach—up to $20,000 per person. The company also has to pay government fines and legal fees.
What is the status of the Equifax lawsuit?
In 2017, hackers broke into Equifax in a breach that exposed the financial information of 147 million Americans. A federal court in 2020 approved a $380 million settlement of class actions lawsuits, with no finding or judgment of wrongdoing made.
How do I know if Equifax breach affected me?
Equifax has created a website where you can find out if you have been affected by the breach. The website will ask you for the last six digits of your social security number and your last name, and then will tell you if you have been affected. You can also call 1-833-759-2982.
Why does Equifax need Social Security number?
We ask for personal information, such as your Social Security number, during the order process to verify your identity and to locate your Equifax credit report.
How do I check my Equifax claim?
You can also log into your myEquifax account and view your status by clicking the “check status of a dispute” button. If you are checking your status by mail or phone, please make sure you have the confirmation number that was provided to you when you submitted your dispute.
Does Equifax sell your information?
We use and sell personal data to nonaffiliated third parties for the following commercial purposes: Consumer credit reporting. Some of our affiliates collect, use, and sell personal data when acting as a consumer reporting agency, as this activity is regulated by the FCRA.
How much is the Equifax data breach settlement?
$425 millionOn June 3, 2021, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the $425 million Equifax data breach settlement.
What happened to Equifax after the data breach?
In the wake of Equifax's 2017 data breach, which compromised the personal information of roughly 147 million consumers — including names, birthdates and Social Security numbers — the company ended up as the target of multiple lawsuits and reached a settlement in 2019 with the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection ...
Can I trust Equifax?
Trusted: Equifax is one of the major credit bureaus and has a highly regarded reputation.
How much is the Equifax settlement per person?
Individual consumers who were wronged were supposed to be able to claim $125 each from the settlement—until, that is, the FTC and Equifax remembered the wronged were still 144 million strong and the settlement fund didn't have enough cash.
What happened in the Equifax data breach?
The data breached included names, home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, social security numbers, and driver's license numbers. The credit card numbers of approximately 209,000 consumers were also breached. The Equifax breach is unprecedented in scope and severity.
Is it safe to use Experian IdentityWorks?
Experian IdentityWorks is a credible organization backed by one of the largest credit bureaus in the world. The company offers a number of attractive features, including affordable identity protection services, a 30-day free trial membership, and significant identity theft insurance.
What credit monitoring service is Equifax offering?
Equifax Complete™ Family Plan Credit monitoring from Experian and TransUnion will take several days to begin. WebScan searches for your Social Security Number, up to 5 passport numbers, up to 6 bank account numbers, up to 6 credit/debit card numbers, up to 6 email addresses, and up to 10 medical ID numbers.
Claim
Equifax data breach settlement emails offering a free membership for Experian IdentityWorks are legitimate.
Origin
In late January 2022, Google users looked to Reddit and elsewhere to find out if an email for the status of the Equifax data breach settlement was a “scam or legit,” as readers often do after receiving such notices.
What happens if you are impacted by Equifax?
If you were impacted by the Equifax data breach, you may seek reimbursement for valid Out of Pocket losses or Time Spent (excluding losses of money and time associated with freezing or unfreezing credit reports or purchasing credit monitoring or identity theft protection) incurred during the Extended Claims Period if you have not received reimbursement for the claimed loss through other means.
When is the deadline to file a claim against Equifax?
The deadline to file a claim for Out-of-Pocket Losses or Time Spent that occurred through January 22, 2020 has passed.
How much time can you spend on a data breach?
You may be eligible for the following reimbursement cash payments for: Time Spent during the Extended Claims Period recovering from fraud, identity theft, or other misuse of your personal information caused by the data breach up to 20 total hours at $25 per hour.
When is the deadline for Equifax?
If you are a class member, the deadline to file Initial Claims Period claim (s) for free credit monitoring or up to $125 cash payment and other cash reimbursement passed on January 22, 2020.
When is the deadline for credit monitoring in 2024?
January 22, 20 24 (For future losses and time) File a claim for Credit Monitoring Services or Alternative Reimbursement Compensation. The deadline to submit a claim to receive the Free Credit Monitoring Services offered under the Settlement, or Alternative Reimbursement Compensation has passed.
When is the extended claim period for credit monitoring?
You may seek reimbursement for valid Out-of-Pocket Losses or Time Spent (excluding losses of money and time associated with freezing or unfreezing credit reports or purchasing credit monitoring or identity theft protection) incurred during the Extended Claims Period (between January 23, 2020 and January 22, 2024) if you have not received reimbursement for the claimed loss through other means.
Is the Equifax settlement final?
By order of the Court, the Settlement cannot become final until the appeals of the remaining objectors are resolved. In September of 2017, Equifax announced it experienced a data breach, which impacted the personal information of approximately 147 million people.
Here's the backstory
The Equifax data breach reported in July 2017 is one of the worst of all time. Critical information was stolen from over 147 million Americans, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth and home addresses.
How to take advantage of the Equifax settlement
The FTC verified the email’s legitimacy and that the settlement became final in January 2022. It went on to say the settlement administrator recently began sending emails and letters to people who filed a valid claim requesting free credit monitoring services from the settlement.
How much did Equifax pay for data breach?
It's been mere days since credit-reporting firm Equifax agreed to pay up to $700 million to settle claims over a massive 2017 data breach and already scammers are trying to exploit the deal to fraudulently get their hands on your personal information.
How to figure out if you are a settlement claimant?
On the settlement website, you can figure out whether you're one of the eligible claimants. Enter your last name and last six digits of your Social Security number in a website operated by the settlement administrator (not Equifax). If told your personal information was affected by the data theft, then you can file a claim.
What is the deadline for filing your claim?
The deadline to file claims is Jan. 22, 2020, for most benefits, and you won't receive anything until the settlement administrator gets the go-ahead from a court — that would be Jan. 23, 2020, at the earliest.
How to make sure you're not handing over sensitive financial information to a fake website?
To make sure you're not handing over sensitive financial information to a fake website, start your claims process on the FTC's Equifax page at ftc.gov/Equifax. The federal agency noted that consumers never have to pay a fee to claim benefits from the settlement and said anyone who calls to urge you to file a claim is most certainly a con artist.
How much can you claim for cyber theft?
People who were harmed in the cybertheft can also claim as much as $20,000 in cash reimbursement for expenses related to the breach. Those include fees to freeze or unfreeze credit reports, as well as for credit-monitoring services; losses from unauthorized charges to accounts; and any payments to lawyers and or accountants.
How long can you claim for identity theft?
You can make a claim for up to 20 hours of time spent dealing with the breach. The good news here is that backing documents aren't required, and you could see compensation for time you spend trying to recover from identity theft (or avoid it in the first place) of $25 an hour (up a maximum of 10 hours -- more than that and you will need documents backing up your additional time spent). You must certify that you are being truthful.
How long does Experian monitor credit?
Consumers impacted by the data breach are entitled to up to 10 years of free monitoring of their credit reports. You can also sign up for at least four years of monitoring services provided by Experian at no cost, or if you already have credit monitoring going, you can file to be compensated for up to $125 in cash.
How much did Equifax pay for the security breach?
The Federal Trade Commission and Equifax reached an agreement at the end of July for Equifax to pay at least $575 million and up to $700 million to compensate those whose personal data was exposed with the breach of the Equifax servers. As part of the settlement, you can file a claim to be compensated for the costs of recovering from the security breach -- including any costs associated with the theft of your identity and freezing and unfreezing your account-- and compensation of unauthorized charges to your banking accounts. The agreement caps payouts at $20,000 per person.
What information was stolen from Equifax?
The data breach of Equifax resulted in hackers accessing personal information on the credit report servers of 147 million consumers, including driver's license information, social security numbers and birthdates.
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