Cyberattacks are the order of the day, and this time the blow has hit T-Mobile. A massive data breach exposed the personal information of millions of customers, leaving many at risk of fraud and identity theft. But there is a little payback for those affected: a compensation payment is coming. Do you want to know if you are on the payment list? Here we tell you all the details.
What happened with T-Mobile?
T-Mobile is the latest big company to get caught up in a class-action lawsuit after a major data breach exposed customer information. Unfortunately, these kinds of cyberattacks are becoming all too common, hitting businesses across all industries. And while companies take a reputational hit, it’s the customers who often suffer the worst consequences.
In the best-case, affected individuals just lose a bit of privacy. But in more serious cases, a breach like this can lead to identity theft and even financial loss, and that’s when things get really messy!!
The silver lining? T-Mobile customers impacted by the breach can expect some compensation soon, with settlement payments on the way. It won’t erase the stress of dealing with stolen data, but at least it’s a little something to soften the blow.
T-Mobile’s costly data breach: A $350 million settlement
On August 16, 2021, T-Mobile revealed that a massive data breach had exposed the personal details of 76 million customers across the U.S. The leaked information included names, birth dates, addresses, phone numbers, and even Social Security numbers, basically, everything a cybercriminal would need to cause serious headaches.
While T-Mobile hasn’t admitted to any wrongdoing, the company agreed to settle the case for $350 million to resolve customer claims. Many affected customers argue that the company failed to properly secure their data, leading to this massive security lapse.
By 2022, both sides had reached an agreement, making this one of the most expensive data breach settlements in recent history. It turns out, leaving the door open to hackers can come with a hefty price tag.
How much will customers get?
If you were affected by the T-Mobile data breach, you might be entitled to compensation, but how much depends on your situation.
- Biggest payout: If you spent money dealing with fraud or identity theft because of the breach, you could get up to $25,000 in reimbursement.
- Lost time? Get paid for it. If you had to spend time fixing fraud, dealing with identity theft, or sorting out any issues caused by the breach, you’ll be compensated at a rate of $25 per hour.
- Missed work? You’re covered. If you had to take time off from your job, you’ll be reimbursed based on your regular hourly wage.
For those who didn’t experience financial loss or lost time, the payout is smaller. Customers who lived in California on August 1, 2021, will receive between $25 and $100.
Of course, not all of that $350 million is going directly to customers, a chunk of it will cover attorney fees and other legal expenses. Because in any big lawsuit, the lawyers always make sure their pockets don’t get hacked either.
Who was behind the T-Mobile data breach?
Meet John Binns, the hacker who broke into T-Mobile’s system in 2021 and had no problem bragging about it. According to Binns, the company’s security was so weak, he barely had to try. But here’s the kicker, while he claimed he did it just to expose T-Mobile’s flaws, he also put millions of customers’ personal data up for sale on the dark web.
Getting him into custody wasn’t easy. Binns had been living in Turkey, and U.S. officials struggled to get him extradited. But after a long legal process, he was finally indicted and arrested last year when Turkey approved the request.
T-Mobile estimates that 54 million customer records were stolen, though Binns seemed to think he had even more than that. On August 11, 2021, he tried selling data from over 124 million Americans for $270,000. Later, he adjusted the offer to 30 million records, and within days, he found a buyer. For T-Mobile customers, the breach was a privacy nightmare. For Binns, it was a quick payday that ended in handcuffs!!