It’s unclear how administrators will determine which claims are legitimate. “If it’s an issue where you can go in there and you’re eligible, you’re not eligible, but wait a minute, you are eligible again … people are going, ‘What am I really entitled to?’” “You want to have faith in the integrity of the settlement,” Levin said. When confirmation numbers were entered to check the status, both showed “received.” Users were given approvals and confirmation numbers for both, rather than being refused because they’d already signed up for one. The claim form has permitted users to sign up for remedies that are supposed to be mutually exclusive: the offer of free credit monitoring or a cash payment.That raises questions about how the matching is being done. Some users noticed that pairing a random “123456” with several common last names returned a result of “affected” by the data breach.The tool has returned conflicting results for the same name and Social Security number combination.However, consumers have noticed glitches: There’s a claim form to use if you are affected. It includes a tool to see if you were affected you enter your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security number. The website is run by settlement administrator JND Legal Administration, not Equifax. You may run into settlement website issues Go directly to the official website or call the settlement administrator at 83 to check your eligibility. “No good fraudster ever allowed a breach or disaster to go by without trying to find ways to use it as an opportunity,” said Adam Levin, a consumer advocate and identity theft expert. The Federal Trade Commission warned consumers Monday about scammers setting up fake websites to steal people’s identifying information or charging people for representation.Įquifax settlement claims: Watch out for fake websites trying to scam youĮquifax will pay Americans hit by breach: Take these steps to file claim If you’ve been affected, beware of these pitfalls: You may be targeted by scammersīe suspicious of banner ads, emails and phone calls about the breach settlement. The settlement includes an initial restitution fund of $380.5 million to cover settlement benefits, legal fees and administrative costs. Some consumers hoping to get compensation for a massive 2017 data breach at credit bureau Equifax are running into trouble: The settlement site’s eligibility tool seems glitchy, phone lines are jammed, and fake websites are trying to sucker people into divulging personal data.Įquifax agreed to the settlement after it failed to patch a known vulnerability, which exposed the personal data of about 147 million U.S. JND Administration added in the email that any claimant who didn’t respond to the email will still receive their settlement as a mailed physical check.Watch Video: Equifax to pay at least $575 million in FTC settlement Anyone who visits the link will need to type in their claim number, which is located at the top of JND’s email. However, the website for opting into an electronic payment is still active. The deadline to opt-in for an electronic settlement payment passed on Oct. However, JND Legal Administration - the organization handling the settlement’s actions - said in the email that it now had the ability to send the payouts via Paypal or prepaid card. The claimants who chose the $125 settlement payment, rather than the free credit monitoring Equifax offered, were initially going to receive the money by mailed check. The email sent at the beginning of October confirmed for people who filed a claim if they were eligible for a settlement payment. However, those who did file a claim may have recently received an email reminding them of the payout. The deadline passed in January 2020 for anyone affected by the breach to file a claim, according to the settlement website. The settlement offered either a $125 payout or 10 years of free credit monitoring and $1 million in identity theft insurance provided by Equifax. In the later months of 2019, a court-appointed team of lawyers secured a $700 million settlement from the credit agency to give some form of payback to the millions of Americans affected. The legal response after Equifax disclosed the breach took two years to gather steam. Should I still apply for student loan forgiveness while it faces legal challenges?
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