AT&T Customers Can Receive Up to $7,500 in $177M Data Breach Settlement — Here's How
NEED TO KNOW
AT&T customers may be eligible for payouts of up to $7,500 as part of a $177 million settlement tied to data breaches
Seventy-three million customers had their data, which included social security numbers, stolen in a March 2024 breach, and in the second breach in July 2024, 'nearly all' of AT&T cellular customers had their phone numbers leaked
The deadline to submit a claim is Nov. 18
AT&T customers may be eligible for payouts of up to $7,500 as part of a multimillion-dollar settlement tied to data breaches in 2024.
The company said it proposed a $177 million settlement to resolve multiple lawsuits — $149 million for the first class-action lawsuit involving a data breach in March 2024 and $28 million for another breach in July 2024.
In March 2024, AT&T said it was investigating a data breach that exposed information, including social security numbers and birth dates, belonging to 73 million customers, whose data had been stored in its systems from 2019 through 2024, according to CNN.
The second data breach occurred four months later and leaked the telephone numbers of 'nearly all' of AT&T cellular customers that used the AT&T network between May and October 2022, per the outlet. The company said hackers downloaded call and text logs onto a third-party platform.
As part of the settlement, customers affected by the first data breach may be eligible to claim up to $5,000 in compensation for losses that occurred in 2019 or later, according to the settlement website.
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The amount of cash payment people can receive depends on the information they had leaked. For example, if a person had their social security number leaked, they were able to claim a higher cash payment than someone who only had other information, including their name or phone number, leaked.
Those impacted by the second breach could receive up to $2,500 for losses that occurred on or after April 14, 2024. Those who were affected by both breaches, or an 'overlap settlement class member,' could get up to $7,500.
For all claims, AT&T customers must show documentation proving that their stolen data was tied to either or both of these two data breaches.
The deadline to submit a claim is Nov. 18, according to the settlement website. However, the website said the $177 million settlement is still awaiting approval, and the final approval hearing is scheduled for Dec. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
'The amount of money that will be available for Settlement Class Member Cash Payments is unknown at this time,' the settlement website states.
An AT&T spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement, 'While we deny the allegations in these lawsuits that we were responsible for these criminal acts, we have agreed to this settlement to avoid the expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation.'
'We remain committed to protecting our customers' data and ensuring their continued trust in us,' the representative added.
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