Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- T-Mobile subscribers affected by the 2021 data breach will finally get settlement benefits later this year.
- A recent update on the settlement website states that payment distribution is expected to begin in April 2025.
T-Mobile suffered a massive data breach in 2021 that exposed the social security numbers, phone numbers, physical addresses, and driver’s licenses of approximately 76 million subscribers. This led to a class action lawsuit that T-Mobile settled a year later, promising to pay $350 million to affected subscribers and lawyers. If your information was leaked in the breach, you will finally get your portion of the settlement later this year.
A recent update on the T-Mobile Data Breach Settlement website (via Reddit) states: “All court proceedings are now complete. The distribution of settlement payments is expected to begin in April 2025.” If you were a T-Mobile customer in 2021 and want to confirm your eligibility for benefits, you can contact the Settlement Administrator on the settlement website or call 1-833-512-2314.
Unless you already filed a claim for out-of-pocket losses, lost time, or identity defense services by January 23, 2023, you’ll be eligible for an alternate cash payment of $25 ($100 if you resided in California on August 1, 2021). However, this amount may change based on the total claims for cash payments.
Additionally, you can utilize free Restoration Services that get you access to “US-based fraud resolution specialists who can assist with important tasks such as placing fraud alerts with the credit bureaus, disputing inaccurate information on credit reports, scheduling calls with creditors and other service providers, and working with law enforcement and government agencies to dispute fraudulent information.”
The update on the settlement comes just weeks after T-Mobile was sued, once again, over the 2021 data breach. In the latest lawsuit, the state of Washington has accused the carrier of failing to address known security vulnerabilities and downplaying the severity of the breach when notifying affected subscribers.
