7 ms·

If this breach affected 147M people (which is what I can find from various articles), and $700M was set aside (before attorney fees), and most claims will be $1

If this breach affected 147M people (which is what I can find from various articles), and $700M was set aside (before attorney fees), and most claims will be $125, that's only ~4M people who will get $125. Are they expecting very few people to file claims? Or what am I missing?

scld 7y ago
Perhaps they are counting on a certain number using their free credit monitoring, as that's the other option on the site.
- bdcravens 7y ago
  It's also the default, so some will just click through
TallGuyShort 7y ago
It sounds to me like they'll give you free credit monitoring, UNLESS YOU ALREADY HAD CREDIT MONITORING, then they'll give you $125. Most people don't have credit monitoring, I think. Personally, I've found the free credit monitoring that they gave me pretty useless. I get an email regularly telling me my score changed. I have to go log in and find out I went up 2 points because of an algorithm change. Thanks for looking out, Equifax! Then I go to a dealer and they pull my credit and it's dramatically higher than what Equifax has been telling me. The whole system seems silly to me.
- krastanov 7y ago
  It is either-or, not both. If you want the money you have to promise you have credit monitoring from somewhere else. Credit Karma (for example) counts as free credit monitoring and you can easily make an account before making the claim. Many credit cards come with monitoring too.
  - markholmes 7y ago
    I believe NerdWallet counts as well.
- charlieo88 7y ago
  The credit information and the score given to an individual is completely different from what is given to an Equifax customer.
- dv_dt 7y ago
  I have about four different free and offered after breach monitoring services. It seems to average about a new one breach and "monitoring" every couple of years recently.
- dwild 7y ago
  > I get an email regularly telling me my score changed. I have to go log in and find out I went up 2 points because of an algorithm change In the Canadian version of Equifax you can set how much of a score change send an email.
- randrews 7y ago
  Funny thing is I still have the credit monitoring service I got for free from the PSN breach settlement...
krastanov 7y ago
Supposedly only ~3% of eligible people make claims in a typical class action case (according to a r/personalfinance poster claiming they work around such cases).
- fovc 7y ago
  If more people file, does the fine increase or the payout decrease?
  - krastanov 7y ago
    The payout would decrease.
    - astura 7y ago
      Yes, the Red Bull one was supposed to be $10 but so many people joined that class my check ended up being ~$2.50 instead.
partiallypro 7y ago
You can actually get more than $125 if you prove that you suffered a loss, or spent time fighting fraud on your account to the tune of $25/hr
- jammygit 7y ago
  $25/hr is peanuts
  - bdcravens 7y ago
    For developers, yes, but most sources report the average hourly wage in the US at around $23-30/hour.
    - deadmetheny 7y ago
      And average wage is a bad metric anyway - a more appropriate one would be median hourly wage, which is in the neighborhood of $18/hr[1] [1] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm
- bdcravens 7y ago
  I suspect that's a ceiling, and payouts will receive a proportional haircut if claims exceed what's been set aside.
amiantos 7y ago
From the FAQ: > 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. No one is going to get $125, we’ll maybe get $5–without doing the math.
jammygit 7y ago
Sounds like a great payout for the lawyers, but a terrible one for individuals. I bet you have to sign off on 'never holding equifax liable again for this breach' as part of your free monitoring
SwellJoe 7y ago
According to the FAQ if more than $31 million in claims are made, the amount of the payment will be reduced. So, the number of people who can receive $125 is ~250,000. I can't imagine they'll get fewer claims than that given how many people were included in the breach. That's just wild. Where's the rest of the money going? Source: https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/faq#q-10 https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/faq#q-10

scld 7y ago

Perhaps they are counting on a certain number using their free credit monitoring, as that's the other option on the site.

bdcravens 7y ago
It's also the default, so some will just click through

TallGuyShort 7y ago

It sounds to me like they'll give you free credit monitoring, UNLESS YOU ALREADY HAD CREDIT MONITORING, then they'll give you $125. Most people don't have credit monitoring, I think. Personally, I've found the free credit monitoring that they gave me pretty useless. I get an email regularly telling me my score changed. I have to go log in and find out I went up 2 points because of an algorithm change. Thanks for looking out, Equifax! Then I go to a dealer and they pull my credit and it's dramatically higher than what Equifax has been telling me. The whole system seems silly to me.

krastanov 7y ago
It is either-or, not both. If you want the money you have to promise you have credit monitoring from somewhere else. Credit Karma (for example) counts as free credit monitoring and you can easily make an account before making the claim. Many credit cards come with monitoring too.
- markholmes 7y ago
  I believe NerdWallet counts as well.
charlieo88 7y ago
The credit information and the score given to an individual is completely different from what is given to an Equifax customer.
dv_dt 7y ago
I have about four different free and offered after breach monitoring services. It seems to average about a new one breach and "monitoring" every couple of years recently.
dwild 7y ago
> I get an email regularly telling me my score changed. I have to go log in and find out I went up 2 points because of an algorithm change In the Canadian version of Equifax you can set how much of a score change send an email.
randrews 7y ago
Funny thing is I still have the credit monitoring service I got for free from the PSN breach settlement...

krastanov 7y ago

Supposedly only ~3% of eligible people make claims in a typical class action case (according to a r/personalfinance poster claiming they work around such cases).

fovc 7y ago
If more people file, does the fine increase or the payout decrease?
- krastanov 7y ago
  The payout would decrease.
  - astura 7y ago
    Yes, the Red Bull one was supposed to be $10 but so many people joined that class my check ended up being ~$2.50 instead.

partiallypro 7y ago

You can actually get more than $125 if you prove that you suffered a loss, or spent time fighting fraud on your account to the tune of $25/hr

jammygit 7y ago
$25/hr is peanuts
- bdcravens 7y ago
  For developers, yes, but most sources report the average hourly wage in the US at around $23-30/hour.
  - deadmetheny 7y ago
    And average wage is a bad metric anyway - a more appropriate one would be median hourly wage, which is in the neighborhood of $18/hr[1] [1] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm
bdcravens 7y ago
I suspect that's a ceiling, and payouts will receive a proportional haircut if claims exceed what's been set aside.

amiantos 7y ago

From the FAQ: > 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. No one is going to get $125, we’ll maybe get $5–without doing the math.

jammygit 7y ago

Sounds like a great payout for the lawyers, but a terrible one for individuals. I bet you have to sign off on 'never holding equifax liable again for this breach' as part of your free monitoring

SwellJoe 7y ago

According to the FAQ if more than $31 million in claims are made, the amount of the payment will be reduced. So, the number of people who can receive $125 is ~250,000. I can't imagine they'll get fewer claims than that given how many people were included in the breach. That's just wild. Where's the rest of the money going? Source: https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/faq#q-10 https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/faq#q-10