> From: Flora <http://www..family/~flora> > Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2019 21:19:54 -0400 > > The main takeaway is to find out if you were a victim and to file a claim > as soon as possible. Ah. According to https://eligibility.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/en/eligibility, it says that I'm eligible. Yet another thing to add to my already too long todo list... > On Sun, Jul 28, 2019, 7:54 PM Scamicide <http://www.wordpress.com/~donotreply> wrote: > > Steven Weisman, Esq. posted: "There has been a lot of reporting in the > > media about the major Equifax settlement of claims brought by the Federal > > Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and > > all but two of the states' Attorneys General related to the avoi" > > > > New post on *Scamicide* > > Truth About the Equifax Settlement > > by > > Steven Weisman, Esq. > > > > There has been a lot of reporting in the media about the major Equifax > > settlement of claims brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the > > Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and all but two of the states' > > Attorneys General related to the avoidable 2017 data breach in which > > personal data on more than 147 million people was stolen. The personal > > information included the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers > > of 147 million people putting them in serious danger of identity theft for > > the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, much of the reporting, most > > notably that everyone will be getting $125 is not accurate. > > > > Here is what the agreement actually provides for: > > > > 1. Free credit monitoring for four years at all three credit bureaus, > > Equifax, Experian and TransUnion and six more years of free credit > > monitoring at just Equifax or if you already have credit monitoring, which > > we all should have, you can choose to receive $125. > > 2. Additional cash payments of as much as $20.000 for expenses you > > paid out of pocket in response to the Equifax data breach. These > > reimbursement payments are intended to cover data breach related payments > > made by you such as the costs of freezing and unfreezing your accounts > > (which until last September cost between $3 and $12 each time you froze > > and > > unfroze your credit reports; since September 21st federal law removed all > > charges for freezing and unfreezing your credit reports), credit > > monitoring > > and fees paid to accountants or lawyers related to the data. > > 3. Payments related to the time you spent dealing with the data breach > > at a rate of $25 per hour. If your claim is for ten hours or less, you > > are > > required to describe the actions you took, such as freezing your credit > > reports at each of the three credit reporting agencies and the time that > > you spent on these activities. If your claim is for more than ten hours, > > in addition to describing what you did, you must also provide copies of > > documents showing that you were a victim of identity theft or other > > problems related to misuse of your information. > > 4. Seven years of free access to assistance through identity the > > restoration services in the event that you do become a victim of identity > > theft. > > 5. Beginning next year, you can get seven free credit reports each > > year for seven years from Equifax. Federal law already provides that you > > can get one free credit report annually from each of the three major > > credit reporting agencies so now you can receive, upon request seven free > > credit reports from Equifax which you should spread out throughout the > > year > > as well as the single credit report per year from Experian and TransUnion. > > > > Now for what is really going to happen. > > > > While reports of the settlement have proclaimed that Equifax will be > > paying 700 million dollars to settle the claims against it brought by the > > various federal agencies and states' Attorneys General, that number is > > extremely misleading. Only 425 million dollars of that amount is earmarked > > for the benefit of consumers and only 31 million dollars of that amount is > > allocated toward the $125 cash payments. The remaining 394 million dollars > > allocated toward consumers goes toward paying for the cost of the credit > > monitoring provided for in the settlement and the reimbursement payments, > > which most likely will be small for just about everyone. In addition, once > > $125 payments total the allocated 31 million dollars, the payments will > > proportionately reduce. Therefore it is important for you to file a claim > > as soon as possible in order to receive the full $125. > > > > TIPS > > > > The first step to take is to find out if you were one of the 147 million > > people affected by the data breach and therefore eligible to apply for > > benefits under the settlement. Here is a link to the section of the > > settlement website to input your information to determine if you were a > > part of the data breach. > > https://eligibility.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/en/eligibility > > > > If you were affected by the data breach, here is the link to the part of > > the settlement website where you can file a claim. All claims must be > > filed no later than January 22, 2020, however, I urge you to file a claim > > as soon as possible. While no payments will be sent until after the > > settlement receives judicial approval, which is expected in December, it is > > still important to file your claim as soon as possible. > > https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/file-a-claim > > > > If you choose to receive free credit monitoring, once the settlement has > > been approved by the court and your claim has been approved, you will > > receive an activation code and instructions by your choice of email or > > regular mail. Cash payments will be made by check or debit card sent by > > mail once the settlement and your claim have been approved. The date for > > court approval of the settlement is December 19, 2019. > > > > If you wish to opt out of the settlement and sue Equifax on your own, you > > must do so by filing a request for exclusion by mail no later than November > > 19, 2019. However, I cannot imagine any situations where it would be worth > > your while to do so. One reason for this is that another aspect of this > > data breach that has been hardly reported on is that in the two years since > > the data breach occurred none of the data stolen in the data breach has > > been put up for sale on the Dark Web, that part of the Internet where > > criminals buy and sell goods and services. Generally, following data > > breaches, the information is promptly marketed on the Dark Web by criminals > > seeking to capitalize on the information as soon as possible to maximize > > profits. To date, it appears that none of the information stolen in the > > Equifax data breach has been sold on the Dark Web nor have there been > > reports of identity theft occurring attributable to the stolen information > > leading many experts, myself included, to conclude that similar to the 2015 > > massive data breach at the federal Office of Personnel Management, this > > data breach may well be the work of the Chinese government which does such > > activities as a part of intelligence gathering and not for profit. > > Regardless of who committed this particular data breach, the danger to you > > of data breaches and resulting identity theft are tremendous and you should > > take action to protect yourself including, most prominently freezing your > > credit reports at each of the three major credit reporting agencies. > > > > As further developments occur in regard to the Equifax settlement, I will > > report them to you.