Equifax Data Breach Leak, Were You Affected??? And How To File A Claim
I'm Going to help you through this. You have much longer before you aren't able to file a claim with Equifax anymore so here it goes. I'll help you gather all your information, File the claim, determine what you can and cannot use in the claim and keep track of it when you are done. First you need to see if you were indeed affected by the breach.
If You were indeed apart of the leak then your going to need to gather some information to submit to them to be considered for a 20,000$ settlement.
First, look back at what happened I'm going to use a fake incident for example. Lets say that your social, ID, and credit card numbers, address and name all got sold to someone on the dark web. Well it is easy to look that up and get proof now. Go ahead and download/create an account (which your going to want to for yourself anyways honestly) Transunion and Experian. I did all 3 and paid for the subscriptions. If you do that, make sure to keep a copy of the price or screen shot the total for the claim. Now for the dark web proof go in their and do a scan it should be in the menu under dark web monitoring. Take a screenshot of that and save it under a file just for this for your records. If you don't have a leak AMAZING and that doesn't mean you can not still file a claim or anything so continue on and read another post of mine about Identity Theft ( https://www.inmyopinionwithlove.com/blog/categories/identity-theft ) and ways to prevent and protect your Identity. If you did not show up as having your information leaked in their data breach then I'm assuming you have not had an account with them. Having an account with all 3 bureaus is a helpful tool to have especially if your monitoring your credit for any concern pertaining to these events.
Also, if you are worried about your information getting leaked again i would rest assured that you are not going to have a problem. They have a private VPN that is their own and it will protect you (nothing is guaranteed in my opinion though) from possible threats. If you have any trouble logging into the website make sure you don't have your own VPN turned on because it will make it to where you can't access the websites content. I had that problem and while I was on the phone with them and they informed me of that.
So what you need to do is pretty simple.
Get out a notepad or download one, if you don't already have one.
Write down literally everything that you have had to do that has to do with the data breach and your Identity getting stolen (go to the post office, mileage there and back and time spent, or talking to Social security office and how long you were on the phone. Any lost wages) You are going to want to write all of that down.
Now, if you have any proof, documents, email, call logs, messages and any information pertaining to your identity being stolen.
Have you opened up any accounts due to this event, Experian ect.
Okay now the approved documentation that you can get reimbursed for is:
Make cash payments for Out-of-Pocket Losses and Time Spent,
- Cash Payment for Time Spent:
If you spent time (i) dealing with fraud, identity theft, or other alleged misuse of your personal information that is fairly traceable to the Data Breach, or (ii) taking preventative measures (time placing or removing security freezes on your credit report, or purchasing credit monitoring or identity protection) that are fairly traceable to the Data Breach, then you may make a claim for reimbursement for $25 per hour for up to 20 hours.
You may receive reimbursement for up to 10 hours at $25 per hour by providing a description of (i) the actions taken in response to the Data Breach in dealing with misuse of your information or taking preventative measures and (ii) the time associated with those actions. You must certify that the description is truthful. Valid claims for Time Spent will be reimbursed in 15-minute increments, with a minimum reimbursement of 1 hour per claim.
To claim reimbursement of more than 10 hours of Time Spent during the Initial Claims Period, you must have also provided reasonable documentation of fraud, identity theft, or other alleged misuse of your personal information fairly traceable to the Data Breach (i.e., letter from IRS or bank or police report).
Out of pocket Reimbursments for purchasing credit monitoring services.
-The deadline to file eligible Extended Claims Period claims for time or money you spend in the future as a result of the Data Breach is 1/22/2024
If you spent money to deal with fraud or identity theft that was fairly traceable to the Data Breach, then you can submit a claim for reimbursement up to $20,000 (including your claim for Time Spent). Out-of-Pocket Losses that are eligible for reimbursement during the Extended Claims Period may include, without limitation, the following:
Unreimbursed costs, expenses, losses or charges you paid during the Extended Claims Period because of identity theft or identity fraud, falsified tax returns, or other alleged misuse of your personal information;
Other miscellaneous expenses related to any Out-Of-Pocket Loss such as notary, fax, postage, copying, mileage, and long-distance telephone charges;
Professional fees incurred in connection with addressing identity theft, fraud, or falsified tax returns.
This list provides examples only, and other losses or costs fairly traceable to the Data Breach may also be eligible for reimbursement during the Extended Claims Period. If you have questions, please call the Settlement Administrator at 1-833-759-2982. The Settlement Administrator will decide if your claim for Out-Of-Pocket Losses is valid. Only valid claims will be paid.
Pay cash Alternative Reimbursement Compensation to Settlement Class Members who already have their own credit monitoring or identity protection coverage before making a claim
Settlement Benefit: Cash Alternative Reimbursement Compensation: If you already have some other kind of credit monitoring or protection services, and did not claim the free Credit Monitoring Services available through the Settlement, Class Members had the option to file a claim during the Initial Claims Period for Alternative Reimbursement Compensation for up to $125. To claim Alternative Reimbursement Compensation you must have certified that you have some form of credit monitoring or protection services on the date you submitted your claim form, named the provider of those services, and certified that you will keep those services for a minimum of six (6) months. The amount that you receive may be substantially less than $125, depending on the number of claims that are filed.
You should keep in mind that:
If you claim Alternative Reimbursement Compensation, you could not claim free Credit Monitoring Services.
If you claim Alternative Reimbursement Compensation, you could not also seek reimbursement for purchasing credit monitoring or protection services covering the 6 month period after you make your claim. However, you can still make other claims for Time Spent or Out-of-Pocket Losses.
If there are more than $31 million claims for Alternative Reimbursement Compensation, all payments for Alternative Reimbursement Compensation will be lowered and distributed on a proportional basis.
Based on the number of potentially valid claims that have been submitted to date, payments of Alternative Reimbursement Compensation claims likely will be substantially lowered and will be distributed on a proportional basis if the Settlement becomes effective. Depending on the number of additional valid claims that are filed, the amount you receive may be a small percentage of your initial claim.
Make cash payments for Subscription Product Reimbursement;
Purchase Restoration Services for all Settlement Class Members, regardless of whether they make a claim
Pay the costs of notifying Settlement Class Members and administering the Settlement;
Pay service awards to the Settlement Class Representatives, as approved by the Court
Pay attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses, as approved by the Court
Is this going to help protect us that were victims of the Data Breach?
How will the Settlement help protect me against future identity theft and fraud?
Settlement Benefit: Credit Monitoring Services: The Settlement provides a way to help protect yourself from unauthorized use of your personal information. Settlement Class Members were eligible to submit a claim during the Initial Claims Period to enroll in at least four (4) years of three-bureau credit monitoring services, provided by Experian, at no cost. These services include the following features:
Three-bureau credit monitoring providing notice of changes to your credit report at all three national credit bureaus;
Up to $1 million dollars in insurance covering costs related to identity theft or fraud;
Real-time notification of credit inquiries and other notifications;
On-demand online access to a free copy of one-bureau credit report, updated on a monthly basis;
CyberAgent® Dark Web Monitoring that monitors internet activity for the trading or selling of your personal information;
Customer support provided by Experian;
There is the Questions and answers that I got all that information from if you would like to look at it.
Now when you go to file the claim you are allowed to enter in all the information and then come back and add the supporting documentation later on down the road. I would only do that if you missed something and need to go back. I'm only saying that because there is a deadline; As of right now to my knowledge you are allowed to still submit claims at the moment and will be able to for a little while longer. All the court stuff is almost done though, they are in the final stages of process. There is only a few sections to the claim and just make sure that when you are in the claim part of it YOU ARE ABLE TO HIT ON THE QUESTION MARK NEXT TO THE QUESTION AND FIND OUT WHAT IS ALLOWED AT THAT TIME IN THE CLAIM. So just make sure you read all the way through it if your having any troubles.
Its only a few pages with about 3 or 4 boxes for you to describe what you paid for and what your loses were. Hopefully this helps
Important Update:
The Settlement received final approval from the Court on January 13, 2020.
After a small number of objectors filed appeals, the appellate court issued an order on June 3, 2021, affirming the Settlement in all but one respect concerning service awards to Plaintiffs. Although one issue will be sent back to the trial court to resolve, it should not have an impact on the Settlement’s implementation.
However, the appeals process has not yet completed, and an objector has filed a petition asking the appellate court to reconsider its decision. The implementation of Settlement benefits and payments cannot begin until the appeals process has completed. This website will continue to be updated as more information about the appeals process becomes available.
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