I’m not sure if this is a deal for us, or a deal for Equifax, but it’s definitely a deal for someone (lawyers). The claims process just opened following a class action settlement on behalf of the 147 million Americans whose data was exposed in the massive 2017 Equifax data breach. If your data was compromised, even if you haven’t (yet) had your identity stolen, you can submit your claim for at least $125 cash right now, and it only takes a minute.
To find out if you’re eligible, just visit the settlement claim website (or fill out and mail this form if you were under 18 at the time of the breach), and enter your name and the last six digits of your social security number. If you were impacted, you’ll be able to provide your contact info, and choose whether you want $125 cash or 10 years of free credit monitoring. Technically, you’re only supposed to claim the $125 if you have credit monitoring from elsewhere, and agree to keep it for six months, but Credit Karma (which I’ve personally used for years) offers monitoring for free.
If you actually spent time or lost money dealing with the effects of the hack, you’ll also be able to submit documentation to be reimbursed for both, in addition to your $125 flat fee, up to a maximum $20,000.
A quick poll of our team (all of whom except Tercius were eligible for the payment, which he’s devastated about) revealed that most of us would rather have the $125 than to have not been hacked in the first place, which is probably very wrongheaded of us. Let us know what you think in the comments!