Readers report now getting this payment via Paypal or check. Not clear what accounts for the variation. If you were impacted, you can apply to receive credit monitoring services or a $125 settlement via Equifax’s site now.Update 12/19/22: After all these years, the settlement – initially touted $125 – is finalized and ends up paying out somewhere between $5 and $24, from the numbers we’ve seen. It’s also compensating customers who paid out-of-pocket expenses as a result of the breach. The hack on Equifax in 2017 reportedly impacted approximately 147 million people, exposing their personal information and social security numbers.Īs part of a settlement from the incident, Equifax is paying more than $300 million toward credit monitoring services for the impacted customers. The court filing suggests that the inadequacies in Equifax’s encryption protocol fell short of industry standards and data security laws, going as far to say that the company “did not know what they were doing with respect to data security.” When it did finally encrypt that data, it “left the keys to unlocking the encryption on the same public-facing servers, making it easy to remove the encryption from the data.” The company also failed to encrypt its mobile applications, so not only was it keeping sensitive data unencrypted on its own server, it was transmitting that data unencrypted over the internet. The website also wasn’t the only thing it left unencrypted. That meant that any attacker that compromised the website’s server would immediately have access to all the personal information stored on it, with no additional work required. If the shoddy password wasn’t enough, the company also stored unencrypted user information on a public-facing server. While you might think a major company holding personal information like people’s names, addresses, and social security numbers might use an exceptionally secure password in that instance, it actually went for something a different: It used “admin” as both the username and password for the portal. The first of those issues comes in the form of the password the company users to protect a portal used to manage credit disputes. A recent filing in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division points out a few of the company’s missteps that might have led to the breach. Remember that epic Equifax hack from 2017? As it turns out, the company made it pretty easy for hackers to get in. How to stay safe and avoid scams while hunting for Black Friday deals online Virtual learning: How to keep your kids engaged while they’re off from school How to get your stimulus check if you don’t file taxes How to avoid coronavirus stimulus check scams Time is running out to file a claim in Yahoo data breach settlement In all, $300 million of the settlement will go towards credit monitoring services or cash payment. It’s better to proactively go the settlement site itself to file a claim rather than risk clicking a link to a scam site.Įquifax agreed to a $575-700 million settlement with the FTC last week. You should also watch out for any phishing emails claiming to be from the FTC or Equifax. Regardless, if you do decide to file a claim, be sure to double-check the domain of the website you’re in. Anything else is a scam, the FTC said.Ī quick scan through Twitter and Instagram revealed more than a few posts using the settlement to promote tax services or identity protection companies, but we weren’t able to find any scam websites. The ftc.gov/Equifax site is a guide to the claim itself and will direct you to the settlement site. If you were affected by the breach, you can check your eligibility and file a claim at. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) set up a site last week to guide people through the process. FTC JWhat to look for if you think you’re being scammed To be sure you are going to the legitimate site, you can access it from the Equifax page: /1qDV3xyYSn And anyone who calls and tries to get you to file a claim is almost certainly a scammer,” he added.īeware of fake websites claiming to be the Equifax settlement claims website. You’ll never have to pay to file a claim for these benefits. “To be sure you’re going to the right place, start at the FTC’s page: ftc.gov/Equifax.” “Wouldn’t you know it? People may have already started putting up fake websites meant to look like the official Equifax settlement claims website,” wrote the FCC’s Michael Atleson on Monday.
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