I have been reporting to you about the about the avoidable Equifax data breach in which personal data of more than 147 million people was stolen and legal actions related to the data breach since 2017 when the data breach occurred. The personal information compromised in the data breach 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. Equifax settled the 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 data breach long ago.

Pursuant to the settlement Equifax offered those affected $125 or ten years of free credit monitoring.  Now years later because there is money remaining in the Consumer Restitution Fund set up in accordance with the settlement, the court appointed administrator is offering additional payments to eligible people.  These payments will be made by pre-paid electronic cards.  Eligible people will receive this email this week.

“Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXX:

The Equifax Data Breach Settlement Agreement says any remaining funds in the Consumer Restitution Fund will be distributed to Settlement Class Members with valid claims.
You have a valid claim and are eligible for an additional payment. It will be sent to you by electronic pre-paid card.
You will receive an email from distribution@EquifaxBreachSettlement.com the week of December 16th, 2024 with instructions to redeem your electronic pre-paid card.

For more information about the Settlement, please visit the Settlement Website at www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com.
This notice is from the Court-appointed Settlement Administrator (JND Legal Administration), not Equifax. Please do not contact Equifax with questions. You may contact JND by email at info@EquifaxBreachSettlement.com, by phone toll-free at 1-833-759-2982, or by mail at Equifax Data Breach Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91318, Seattle, WA 98111-9418.”

TIPS

In addition, to following up on your benefits pursuant to the settlement as indicated above, this is also a good time to remind you that if you haven’t frozen your credit reports at all three of the major credit reporting bureaus, you should do so at this time.

Here are the links to do so.