Prudential Financial which is a major financial services company has settled a class action brought against it by its customers whose personal information was compromised in a data breach that occurred on February 4, 2024.  The data breach affected 2.5 million of Prudential Financial’s customers.  The compromised sensitive personal information included names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and physical addresses which put the victims of the data breach in serious danger of identity theft. The class action claimed that Prudntial Financial could have prevented the data breach by using reasonable cybersecurity measures and this claim seems understandable when you consider that Prudential Financial had suffered a similar major data breach less than a year earlier.

Under the terms of the settlement, which still must be approved by the judge overseeing the case in October, provides for various cash payments to the victims of the data breach.  Victims can receive payments of up to $5,000 for documented expenses related to the data breach such as replacement of IDs, credit monitoring and other related expenses.  In addition, victims can receive payments of between $200 and $599 for having their Social Security numbers compromised.

October 3rd is the deadline for making a claim under the class action settlement which can be done here using this link. https://www.prudentialfinancialdatabreach.com/faq/

TIPS

Victims of this data breach should  freeze their credit if they have not already done so.  Freezing your credit is actually something everyone should do.  It is free and easy to do.  In addition, it protects you from someone using your identity to obtain loans or make large purchases even if they have your Social Security number.  If you have not already done so, put a credit freeze on your credit reports at all of the major credit reporting agencies.  Here are links to each of them with instructions about how to get a credit freeze:

Everyone also should monitor their credit reports regularly for indications of identity theft.  The three major credit reporting agencies now provide free weekly access to your credit reports so you can monitor your credit reports easily on your own.  Here is the only link to use to get your free credit reports.https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action
Some scammers have websites that appear to offer “free” credit reports, but if you read the fine print, you often may find that you have signed up for unnecessary services.
Finally, be wary of anyone who calls you purporting to help you in regard to the data breach who  asks for personal information in regard to this data breach as that is a favorite tactic of hackers to lure you into providing additional personal information that can lead to your becoming a victim of identity theft.  Also, as always, never click on a link or download an attachment to an email or text message unless you have absolutely confirmed that it is legitimate and don’t provide personal information in response to an email, text message or phone call unless you have absolutely confirmed that the communication was legitimate.

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