T-Mobile is the latest amongst a string of companies who are currently facing class action as a result of a data breach. This issue of data breaches seems to be a recurring occurrence in recent years, regardless of industry type. The consequences of this kind of problem can be damaging to not only the company, but to its impacted customers as well. This is arguably the biggest fallout of the rise in dependency on technology in recent years. In the best case scenario, impacted individuals face an invasion of privacy, however, the more detrimental outcomes could even include identity theft and financial loss.
Victims of the cyber attack on T-Mobile can soon expect a check in the mail to compensate them for any damages.
T-Mobile class action lawsuit
On August 16, 2021, T-Mobile announced a data breach that resulted in sensitive information of 76 million customers in the United States being exposed. The exposed data included names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers.
The company is not admitting to any wrongdoing in the case, however a settlement agreement has been reached with plaintiffs. The company has agreed to make a settlement payout of $350 million in order to resolve these claims. Impacted customers are blaming the company for not taking the appropriate measures to protect their data and as such, in 2022, the $350 million settlement agreement was reached.
Impacted customers can expect to receive compensation that could amount to a maximum of $25,000 if they had incurred any out-of-pocket expenses or had to spend money of any sort as a result of the data breach. Reimbursement will be processed at a rate of $25 per hour if the claimant has spent any time on “remedying fraud, identity theft, or other alleged misuse of your personal information that you believe is fairly traceable.”
Alternatively, the claimant will be compensated with their hourly wage rate if time off work had to be taken.
If a class member does not claim out-of-pocket loss or lost time due to the data breach, they will only receive between $25 and $100, provided that they resided in California on August 1, 2021.
It should also be noted that part of the $350 million settlement amount will be used to cover attorney costs and other legal fees.
Individuals impacted by this T-Mobile cyber attack need not file a lawsuit separately in order to meet eligibility for a claim payment. Class members had previously been notified of the settlement details. However, if you would like to confirm whether or not you are one of the 76 million impacted T-Mobile customers, you may call 1-833-512-2314 or contact the Settlement Administrator here.
Who is the hacker behind this breach?
It was discovered that John Binns, an American citizen, was behind the 2021 data breach after Binns gloated about being able to hack into the mobile operator’s systems due to its poor security. Whilst the accused claims this was his only motive, Binns also put up millions of customers’ data up for sale on the dark web forums.
American authorities had faced some setbacks when attempting to extradite Binns from Turkey, where he had been residing for some time. However, Binns had finally been indicted for his cyber attack on T-Mobile last year and was arrested in Turkey after the extradition request was approved.
T-Mobile has estimated that around 54 million customer records had been stolen. On August 11, 2021, Binns made an offer to sell the data of more than 124 million Americans for the hefty price of $270,000. His initial post was later edited, changing the offer to that of 30 million and several days later, a buyer was found.