125 bucks if you did nothing but have your information stolen, 25 bucks an hour for time you spent related to that. No need to dig up documentation for 10 hours or less.
https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/equifax-settlement-money-how-to-claim.html?fbclid=IwAR30P7moS1Ok3bLRk5KGr_pUGOg2Pwvtz6ASk56L7zpLuJ4jMtJqwn_bmRo
It’s “up to $125”. The more people that sign up, the less everyone gets. If it’s everyone affected, we get $0.21
@dave aww, I hope most people don’t bother then. Is the time spent pool capped too?
@dave That happened to me once. I don’t remember what it was for, but I wound up getting a check for something like 10 cents.
@dave The lawyers sure did make sure they got their share, though…
<quote>
Class Counsel will ask the Court to award them attorneys’ fees of up to $77,500,000 and reimbursement for costs and expenses up to $3,000,000 to be paid from the Consumer Restitution Fund.
</quote>
cough cough…
@dave @simssj I think my max payout for one of these was something like $11. I hope they learned their lesson!
@dave lol
I learned long ago that in marketing-speak, “up to” means “significantly less than”.
@DennisG2014 Mrs cengland0 gets caught with the “As low as” deals. Will see a rack of clothes marked “As low as $3” and somehow thinks everything on that rack is $3. I told her that sign is meaningless and things could cost as much as a million dollars and still qualify to be on that rack.
She also gets caught on deals that say “Buy One Get One 50% Off”. She somehow misses that 50% off part and assumes it means get the second one free.
She is the exact demographic those marking people are looking for.
@dave disregard above PSA.
Also, this has been discussed on the July Deals thread. (Seriously)
@Barney looked for a thread and didn’t see one. Haven’t gotten to spend as much time digging through all the content in all the threads these days
@Barney @Seeds Probably too busy with @valkyriered and the frozen watermelon eh?
@Barney @therealjrn @valkyriered still waiting on the instructional drawing
@Seeds @therealjrn @valkyriered
Never going to happen.
Has anyone else had trouble with the Online Claim link not working?
When I click through it, I end up on this site address: “https://secure.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/” which simply says “403 Forbidden Microsoft-Azure-Application-Gateway/v2”.
Can anyone help me figure out what is going on, and how to get to the online filing site?
Thanks!
Thomas
@PhysAssist I found two sites that were easier to use and no 403 errors, equifackssettlemonies.ru and unclaimedfundsandsettlementrecovery.ng. I filled them both out and no 403 errors. Maybe I’ll get payouts from both! Fingers crossed.
@cadmore @PhysAssist
I’m assuming that last post was a joke?
I’m not sure I would feel terribly safe filling out any form that had personal information if that form were hosted from a .ru domain (Russia) or an .ng domain (Nigeria).
@cadmore @EwingKlipspring @PhysAssist It’s a cruel joke. From the linked article above:
@PhysAssist Probably just having problems with the site. That link you posted works for me.
@PhysAssist Its using microsoft and you expect it to work?
Tsk.
@PhysAssist So go to the link 3 messages above this one in the gray box. Check to see if you are affected. Then if you are it has the link to fill out the form. That is what I did anyway and no issues.
@cadmore @EwingKlipspring I wouldn’t even feel comfortable just clicking on those links despite my VPN and antivirus software.
@Kidsandliz Well, thanks, but I did that, and SWMBO is affected but not moi.
That was the link I tried and got nowhere with.
Tried again today, and got the same error message “403 Forbidden Microsoft-Azure-Application-Gateway/v2” at: https://secure.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/.
At first I thought it might be because of my VPN, so I turned it off and reloaded to no avail.
Thanks anyway.
@PhysAssist I got in with a mac… so not much help but perhaps try a different browser?
@PhysAssist
I clicked through on the very first link. And I got the following website:
Equifax breach settlement
From there you have to check if you’re qualified at the following link:
https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/eligibility-check
If so, you are eligible to make a claim.
Fortunately(?), I got the following message:
"Thank You
Based on the information you provided, our records indicate your personal information was impacted by this incident."
There is a link underneath that message to file a claim
G’luck & don’t spend it all in one place! (Unless you already have. In which case, just G’luck!)
I am not even 1 in 147 million! See why I don’t play the lottery??
@mikibell Actually, you are a winner! (So am I). I hear that they also stole Social Security numbers.
@mikibell My wife got hit, but I didn’t, this time.
@duodec I checked the hubs and nothing on him either, still have to check the kids. Baby #2 had all his info, including an image of his birth certificate and ss card stolen. We all have credit monitoring because of one breech or another… Sigh…
You need to have a credit monitoring service to take the cash. Otherwise you can get four years of credit monitoring.
I’ve had credit monitoring for ten years due to a series of data breaches.
@craigthom
Even ‘credit card’ related ‘monitoring’ qualifies though. But again… “up to $125” and I had heard the hourly rate was $20 with documentation. Worth at least looking into.
I took the free monitoring since it seemed like a better long term value
I think I’ve gotten free monitoring from the Equifax breach. And Target. And probably several others. Just got an update on my credit from TU’s service.
And I’m pretty sure that CreditKarma counts.
FYI there’s also a service that monitors real estate deed/title changes and will send you an email if something with your name on it turns up.
That will be the next big fraud target - filing false title transfers (aka stealing your land), using it to back a mortgage and then absconding with the money for you to get your property foreclosed on. And that’s a far bigger deal than identity theft to unfuck.
Not so fast …
From here
You read that right - pretty sure far, far more than 248,000 people looking for their $125 have tried to sign up. Pretty sure everyone has seen the “free money” clickbait blogger articles and news coverage. Even Meh forum posts.
140 milliion people affected, and 248,000 get the max $125. Or 1/5 of 1%. If even just 2% of the 140 million (700K) claim their “$125”, you will end up with just $12. The lawyers will get $77 million.
Such is “justice” in "Murica.
@mike808 correct me if I’m wrong, I only read the part you posted but…
“If there are more than $31 million in claims for time spent during the initial claims period…, all payments for time spent will be reduced and distributed on a proportional basis.”
Sounds like the 31 million is just for the 20/hr claims, not the entirety of the consumer payment
@Seeds I think you are correct. A single person could theoretically submit documentation proving they spent hours upon hours of time dealing with this. I can see why they would need to cap that part of it.
No thanks - I’ll skip on the $125 and keep my rights to sue them if I am directly effected by their inability to keep my info in their pants.
@capguncowboy The better deal is to take them up on the 10 years of free credit monitoring instead of the not-worth-your-time near $0 cash option.
Are you really going to hire a lawyer and sue them? Really? Take the 10 years monitoring and call it a loss. It’s a bad deal any way you choose, so make lemonade and don’t sink more money into it.
Few years ago, I got $183.00 back from a lawsuit against companies that made memory and for cpus and laptops. I belong to that class action web site. 5 mins and I fill out I info about bad chips are laundry detergent. Few months later, you get pocket change or a nice check.
@somf69 Pretty sure I was a part of that one also.
@somf69 I filed a claim for the memory suit, and never got anything out of it. I even had receipts showing the purchases
@capguncowboy @somf69 I got a check for like $11
This whole debacle shows how the gummint, the lawyers, and corporations are all in a giant three-way, and consumers be damned.
Here’s how we solve it: If it were the case that, in instances like this, the CEO, CFO, CIO, CISO, etc… did hard time (say, 10 years?) in case of privacy breaches, we’d see hella lot fewer instances of corporations playing fast and loose with customer data, wouldn’t we?
@simssj Or vote the career politicians (and judges) that vote for this pro-business “corporations are people” crap out of office.
The ones who bitch about the cost of programs that benefit people while voting for corporate welfare and tax cuts. You know who they are. They don’t work for you or represent your interests. Vote them out. Get them off the gravy train they’ve created for themselves - an untouchable political class of grifters.
Equifax is certainly a corporation, but we are not its consumers. The people/companies who pay to access the data are the consumers, and we are the product. One news article said something like: “Equifax wants to hear from the people whose data was compromised like Walmart wants to negotiate with a can of beans.” What is amazing is that the bean cans got anything at all, individually or collectively.
I took the credit monitoring, which seems like a better deal than waiting around until January 2020 to get a check for $1.29.
@rockblossom
Nope, we are it’s product. The crop it harvests and sells.
Ok I’m so bad with this stuff. I checked and I know I’m in this unfortunate lottery. I just bought credit monitoring from my insurance company but you guys are saying the better deal is to take the free credit monitoring and skip the cash?
@star2236 It appears the general consensus of the posts I’ve read, here, in this little topic is to take the ten years credit monitoring. I know that’s what I did, what you do or decide is your decision though.
@star2236 I took the credit monitoring. the payout is tempting, but I’d probably squander it anyway. I’ve had someone try to open credit cards in my name before and it’s a pain in the ass to deal with.
From the FTC website: Equifax data breach: Pick free credit monitoring
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2019/07/equifax-data-breach-pick-free-credit-monitoring
Last evening I received an email from the Equifax Breach settlement administrators indicating I have to take further action by October 15th:
You must either verify or amend your claim by October 15, 2019.
If you do not, your claim for alternative compensation will be denied.
To verify your claim for alternative compensation, you must provide the name of your credit monitoring service that you had in place when you filed your claim.
OR
You can amend your claim to request free credit monitoring instead of alternative compensation.
The easiest way to verify or amend your claim is by visiting the official Settlement Website here.
The amount you receive in connection with your alternative compensation claim may be significantly reduced depending on how many valid claims are ultimately submitted by other class members for this relief. Based on the number of potentially valid claims that have been submitted to date, payments of these benefits likely will be substantially lowered and will be distributed on a proportional basis if the settlement becomes final. Depending on the number of valid claims that are filed, the amount you receive for alternative compensation may be a small percentage of your initial claim.
Please note that if you do not take action by October 15, 2019, your claim for alternative compensation will be denied.
You can also verify or amend your claim by sending us a letter stating either the name of the credit monitoring service you had in place when you filed your claim or that you wish to amend your claim to select credit monitoring instead. Please include your full name, claim number from the top of this email, and zip code to the address below:
In re Equifax Data Breach Settlement
c/o JND Legal Administration
PO Box 91318
Seattle, WA 98111-9418
Further information about your rights and options, including the right to exclude yourself from the settlement, is available at www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com.
I read elsewhere if you make a claim for cash, a requirement of the settlement terms is that you have other monitoring in place, and you must provide the settlement administrators with an affidavit that you have such monitoring in place. If the administrators determine you do not (by whatever means they use to verify), your entire claim will be denied.
@ruouttaurmind
Thx