You have until Jan 22 to file a claim and receive benefits from the settlement.
Approval has finally been granted in a class-action lawsuit against Equifax for the massive 2017 data breach. A federal judge in Atlanta ruled that Equifax will pay $380.5 million dollars to settle lawsuits against them and it is possible that they will have to dish out an additional $125 million for other claims. The money will be placed in a fund for affected consumers who have been identified in the class outlined in the lawsuit. Of the 147 million affected consumers by the massive data breach, 15 million are actually apart of the class action. Outside of this class action, Equifax also gave out free credit monitoring (worth $125 each), so if all affected consumers sign up then this is equivalent to about $2 billion additional dollars paid out.
That isn't all Equifax is required to pay.
In addition to the settlement described above, Equifax is also required to spend at least $1 billion for improved security, $175 million to 48 states in the US and $100 million in civil penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Still not done. Equifax also needs to pay $1.4 billion in litigation expenses and $77.5 million as a percentage based fee. Talk about making it rain.
If you are identified in this class action lawsuit, you have until Jan 22 (that's next week) to claim benefits. The benefits you can sign up for include either: 10 years of free credit monitoring or apply for a cash payout of up to $20,000.