T-Mobile agreed to pay $350 million to settle a 2022 class-action lawsuit, and that money is finally starting to find its way to affected customers.
The class action lawsuit was brought against T-Mobile following a cyberattack in August 2021. Approximately 76 million T-Mobile customers had their personal data — including names, addresses, and Social Security Numbers — compromised in the attack.
After years of delays, the payments for that class action lawsuit will begin to reach customers starting in April, according to the settlement administrator.
Those who are eligible to receive a payment should have been notified in 2022. The payment size will vary based on how much time and money a customer lost as a result of the data breach.
The largest payout is a $25,000 reimbursement, though that is reserved for people who “spent money trying to avoid or recover from fraud or identity thefts that you believe was fairly traceable to the T-Mobile Data Breach.”
Customers who didn’t claim any out-of-pocket losses may still receive a portion of the settlement, it will just be significantly less than those who did. For example, if you did not claim any losses but could prove you were impacted by the breach, you might receive $25, or even $100 for those who lived in California at the time of the breach.
Even that may be overstating how much money an individual receives, as those are the maximum payouts — most recipients will get less than even $25.
A major chunk of the $350 million T-Mobile is paying will go to cover attorney fees and administrative expenses.
Once the legal fees are paid, customers who proved out-of-pocket losses will be prioritized. Once they have all received payments, the remainder of the money will be doled out on a “pro rata basis” to everyone else who was a T-Mobile customer at the time.
The claim submission deadline passed on January 23, 2023. Anyone who didn’t file a claim by that date will not be receiving a payment from the class action lawsuit.
