>Last week, the FTC said the 147 million consumers impacted by the Equifax hack and leak would be eligible for a $125 cash payout as part of a settlement with the credit reporting giant. This week, the FTC abruptly backtracked, insisting that because the public’s interest in the money was somehow “unexpected,” most victims would never actually see these funds.
FROM THE FTC SITE
> I thought I could choose $125 instead of free credit monitoring. What happened?
The public response to the settlement has been overwhelming. Millions of people have visited this site in just the first week. Because the total amount available for these alternative payments is $31 million, each person who takes the money option is going to get a very small amount. Nowhere near the $125 they could have gotten if there hadn’t been such an enormous number of claims filed.
The free credit monitoring provides a much better value, and everyone whose information was exposed can take advantage of it. If your information was exposed in the data breach, and you file a valid claim before the deadline, you are guaranteed at least four years of free monitoring at all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and $1,000,000 of identity theft insurance, among other benefits. The market value of this product is hundreds of dollars per year.
You can still choose the cash option on the claim form, but you will be disappointed with the amount you receive and you won’t get the free credit monitoring.
Demand Progress (I know, I know, I know. Soros. But in this case I don't care) has a petition to try to get some satisfaction over the whole thing act.demandprogress.org/sign/ftc-deceptive-advertising-equifax-settlement/ but honestly I doubt anything will come of it. They fucked us by losing our data, then slapped us in the face by offering us $125 for our trouble (a pittance if you think about it), then pulled the rug out from under our feet again. If there was ever a company that deserved being protested and picketed, it's Equifax, but in the real world their stock is skyrocketing and their CEOs are all getting bonuses for how deftly and effectively they fucked us and got away with it. In another world the government would have investigated and dismantled the company, but in clown world you can get away with anything as long as you have enough money and connections.
Logan Smith
Bump
Charles Myers
You can lock your credit file for free. Then you don’t need monitoring.
Michael Fisher
it's not about that. it's about the class action lawsuit that settled for $575 million, of which you'd think MOST of that would go to the people that got fucked. no. it all went into politicians' pockets and a paltry $31m was left to be divided among the people that filed claims. It seems like a lot of money until you understand several million people filed. Everyone's getting like $5 instead of the $125 they were promised. They were hoping everyone would go for the "credit monitoring" that was by, you guessed it, Equifax themselves. Fuck this company on so many levels.
Benjamin Gonzalez
They had billions in fines. Each victim could have been given MILLIONS of dollars with more than enough to go around.
Justin Davis
I actually had my debit card locked and disabled because of a fraud attempt. I was on the list. This entire thing is fucking criminal. I can't be the only one who's livid. $125 may not seem like a lot but to me it's a week's groceries or a bill payment.
Dominic Harris
Son of a bitch
Jason Roberts
And why aren't they making payments instead? I'm gainfully employed, and so I don't run into this, but I'm sure the rest of you knuckle dragging NEETs are well aware that bills don't disappear when you don't have the money. Equifax owes me interest and a late fee.
Christian Reyes
Because apparently the settlement was final and less than 10% of it was allocated for the actual victims. This whole thing is an atrocity. I have a good job too but that's not the point. For a brief second I thought a company was going to make good on fucking the public. I don't know what I was thinking
