Friday, September 6, 2019

Equifax Data Breach Settlement - You may be eligible for cash, free credit monitoring, and more

COURT APPROVED LEGAL NOTICE

If Your Personal Information Was Impacted in the 2017 Equifax Data Breach, You May Be Eligible for Benefits from a Class Action Settlement

Un aviso de este acuerdo también está disponible en www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com/es
In September of 2017, Equifax announced it experienced a data breach, which impacted the personal information of approximately 147 million people. Equifax has reached a proposed settlement to resolve class action lawsuits brought by consumers alleging Equifax failed to adequately protect their personal information. Equifax denies any wrongdoing, and no judgment or finding of wrongdoing has been made.

If your personal information was impacted in the Equifax data breach, you may be eligible for benefits from the settlement after it becomes final. Under the proposed settlement, Equifax will: (1) pay $380.5 million into a fund to pay benefits to consumers, court-approved fees and costs of class counsel and service awards to the named class representatives, and other expenses; (2) implement and maintain certain data security enhancements; (3) if necessary, pay up to $125 million more to reimburse consumers for out-of-pocket losses resulting from the data breach; and (4) provide certain other relief.

Are You Eligible: You are a class member and eligible for settlement benefits if you are a U.S. consumer whose personal information was impacted by the Equifax data breach. If you are unsure of whether you are a class member, visit www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com and click the "Find Out if Your Information Was Impacted" button or call 1-833-759-2982.

Benefits: If you are a class member, you are eligible for one or more of the following benefits:
1. Free Credit Monitoring or Cash Payment. You can get free credit monitoring services. Or, if you already have credit monitoring services, you can request a cash payment of up to $125.
The free credit monitoring includes at least four years of three-bureau credit monitoring, offered through Experian. You can also get up to six more years of free one-bureau credit monitoring through Equifax.
If you already have credit monitoring services that will continue for at least 6 more months, you may be eligible for a cash payment of up to $125. The amount you receive may be substantially less than $125, depending on the number of claims that are filed.
2. Other Cash Payments. You may also be eligible for the following cash payments up to $20,000 for:
the time you spent remedying fraud, identity theft, or other misuse of your personal information caused by the data breach, or purchasing credit monitoring or freezing credit reports, up to 20 total hours at $25 per hour.
out-of-pocket losses resulting from the data breach.
up to 25% of the cost of Equifax credit or identity monitoring products you paid for in the year before the data breach announcement.
3. Free Identity Restoration Services: You are eligible for at least 7 years of free assisted identity restoration services to help you remedy the effects of identity theft and fraud.
Important Information Regarding the Proportional Reduction of Benefits. If you request or have requested a cash benefit, the amount you receive 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 for time spent and alternative compensation of up to $125 likely will be substantially lowered and will be distributed on a proportional basis if the settlement becomes final. Depending on the number of additional valid claims that are filed, the amount you receive for these benefits may be a small percentage of your initial claim.
How to Get Benefits:

To get free credit monitoring or cash payments, or both, you must submit a claim:
Online at www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com, or
By mail.
You must submit a claim by January 22, 2020. Certain claims may require supporting documents. If you have already filed a claim, there is no need to do so again.

If there is still money in the fund after payment of valid claims submitted during the initial claims period that ends on January 22, 2020, there will be an extended claims period lasting for four years. In the extended claims period, you may make certain claims for out-of-pocket losses incurred in the future, including time and money spent trying to address identity theft or fraud related to the data breach.

You don't need to file a claim to get free identity restoration services.

None of these benefits will be distributed or available until the settlement is finally approved by the Court. If you make a claim for cash compensation, the amount of money you receive may be significantly less than the claim you submit depending on the number and amount of claims that are submitted.

Understanding Your Options:

If you want the Court to exclude you from the settlement class, you must write to the Settlement Administrator by November 19, 2019. List the name of this proceeding (In re: Equifax Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, Case No. 1:17-md-2800-TWT), your full name, your current address, and the words "Request for Exclusion" at the top of the document. You must sign this request and mail it to Equifax Data Breach Class Action Settlement Administrator, Attn: Exclusion, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91318, Seattle, WA 98111.

To object to the settlement, you must file an objection with the Court by November 19, 2019. For detailed instructions about the process of objecting, visit www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com.

You must file a claim if you want to receive free credit monitoring or cash benefits under this settlement. If you do nothing, you won't receive a cash payment or credit monitoring services, won't be able to sue Equifax for the claims being resolved in the settlement, and will be legally bound by all orders of the Court.

The Court will hold a hearing on December 19, 2019, to consider any objections, and decide whether to approve the settlement, award attorneys' fees and expenses, and grant service awards to the named class representatives. You may enter an appearance through an attorney, but do not have to. The Court has appointed lawyers to represent you and the class, but you can hire another lawyer at your own expense.

This is only a summary of the settlement. For more information, visit www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com, or call (toll free) 1-833-759-2982.

This is a Court authorized notice, not a lawyer advertisement.
Email Disclaimer
The Equifax Data Breach Settlement Administrator will never ask you to provide sensitive information, such as, your Social Security Number or Tax ID, Bank Account Number, Credit Card Number, Driver's License or Passport Number, or Password, etc. via email. All email communications sent by the Equifax Data Breach Settlement Administrator OR on behalf of the settlement administrator will originate from info@equifaxbreachsettlement.com, the official email address of the settlement. If you receive an email which you suspect to be fraudulent, do not reply or do anything it instructs you to do, but immediately forward it to abuse@equifaxbreachsettlement.com.

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