Back in July, everyone knew about the $700 million settlement that allowed you to claim damages if you suffered any loss as a result of a data breach. As we know in today’s world, these types of data breaches seem all too common. Yahoo was another company that had its own data breach in which millions of accounts were stolen as well as sensitive data.
Currently, Yahoo may be a negotiation for its own $117.5 million settlement for the several times they’ve had a data breach in the past two years. If you’ve had a Yahoo account between the years of 2012 and 2016, you may be eligible to sign up to receive your payment. The problem is, as with the Equifax settlement, there’s a fixed amount of money in which everyone will try to claim from. The more people who claim, the less money there’ll be for everyone.
Equifax was offering to pay victims of fraud either $125 or free credit reporting for around four years. Of course, many people are going to choose the cash option as they don’t value credit reporting is much as receiving the money. What started happening is that the average payout became much less than the $125 offered. More people found out about the situation and started putting their claims in.
Even the FTC decided to chime in and tell people that getting the credit reporting was the better option, otherwise the cash option could be depleted. Yahoo’s situation is the same. They’re offering $100 payment or free credit reporting for two years. That $100 is only good as long as too many people don’t sign up for the cash option.
More Yahoo Options
Depending on what was lost during the data breach, including having your Social Security number or other sensitive information stolen from you, you may be eligible to receive more than $100. They’re offering as much is $25,000 for people who suffer losses. When your personal information is stolen due to data breaches, whoever stole the information can then use that against you. They could sign up for credit cards in your name and steal your identity.
When this happens, it’s extremely difficult, frustrating, and time consuming to fight. It takes a lot to prove that you are a victim of fraud. If Yahoo’s data breach caused you to be the victim, then you could be in for significant damages which the settlement will pay out.
“You may additionally provide documentation or proof to receive reimbursement of up to $25,000.00 in out-of-pocket losses, including lost time, that you believe you suffered or are suffering because of the Data Breaches. As to documented lost time, you can receive payment for up to fifteen hours of time at an hourly rate of $25.00 per hour or unpaid time off work at your actual hourly rate, whichever is greater. If your lost time is not documented, you can receive payment for up to five hours at that same rate.”
