Deb Mathern has bad news for those of you who are angling to get $125 from the $700 million Equifax settlement. You MIGHT get the full amount, but the odds are that enough plaintiffs will request compensation that you will get next to nothing.
THE BAD NEWS…
The settlement includes some larger payouts for those individuals who had their credit stolen and incurred some type of damage (cost of freezing and unfreezing credit, credit monitoring, lawyers fees, etc). Most individuals, who had their sensitive personal info breached, are eligible for some compensation with a max of $125. Unfortunately, there is not enough money earmarked for those individuals to pay out everyone to the full amount. The more people sign up, the smaller the individual amount. Share and share alike.
WHAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER
Deb does also mention that you can forgo the $125 payment in exchange for a decade of credit monitoring. During that time, Equifax would oversee free credit monitoring and alert you whenever someone accesses your credit. If a fraudster is looking to open a credit card, you can find out immediately instead of months down the line. As someone who worked for years in finance, Deb thinks this is the best way to go. It doesn’t stop the criminal, but keeps you in the loop in case something does happen.
WHERE THERE’S SMOKE…
She also warns that scammers are out there already. Fraudulent websites have been put up, calls about payments coming in at all hours of the day and official looking letters have already surfaced. Protect yourself by ONLY going to the website below and don’t allow the financial fraudsters to get a second helping of this historic data breach!
OFFICIAL EQUIFAX SETTLEMENT PAGE
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Equifax Breach Could Have Years of Impact to Your Finances
Understanding Pay Day Loans with Deb Mathern
Minnesota Enacts “Slowpoke” Law
(Amy Iler & JJ Gordon are talk-show hosts at 790 AM KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. “It Takes 2 with Amy & JJ” can be heard weekdays 11am-2pm. Check out the show page on
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