Friend,
You know that $125 you’re supposed to get from Equifax for its data
breach? Yeah, that’s not happening.^1
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Equifax let us think we were going
to get a cash payout, when instead they intended claimants to sign up for
credit monitoring services.^2
The government is supposed to protect us from scams and deceptive
advertising--but under the Trump administration they’re in on the con.
[ [link removed] ]Tell the FTC to investigate itself for false and deceptive
advertising--and fine itself enough to ensure everyone gets the full $125
who signed up for it.
In 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that let criminals have access to
the personal information of 147 million people--including names, social
security numbers, and addresses.
Equifax and the Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement for
Equifax’s gross negligence that they said included either free credit
monitoring for 10 years or a $125 payout to claimants.
Last month, the FTC said Equifax would pay at least $575 million (possibly
up to $700 million) because of its gross negligence and lack of security
measures that led to the breach of customer data.^3
But on Wednesday, the FTC announced that there were so many claimants that
people wouldn’t receive anything near $125 and urged them to sign up for
credit monitoring instead.^4
FTC staffer Robert Schoshinski wrote that the "the pot of money that pays
for" cash refunds for hardship "is $31 million.”^5 As one commenter on the
FTC blog said, did the FTC forget to do the math? The data breach affected
147 million people. There is no reasonable explanation for advertising a
cash payout of $125 with those numbers.^6
[ [link removed] ]Tell the FTC to stop their false and deceptive advertising and ensure
everyone gets what they signed up to receive.
Thanks for taking action to protect consumer rights,
Salma and the team at Demand Progress
[ [link removed] ]DONATE
Sources:
1. Federal Trade Commission, "Equifax Data Breach Settlement FAQ," [ [link removed] ]July
31st, 2019.
2. Federal Trade Commission Consumer Information Blog, "Equifax data
breach: Pick free credit monitoring," [ [link removed] ]July 31st, 2019.
3. Federal Trade Commission, "Equifax to Pay $575 Million as Part of
Settlement with FTC, CFPB, and States Related to 2017 Data Breach,"
[ [link removed] ]July 22nd, 2019.
4. Federal Trade Commission Consumer Information Blog, "Equifax data
breach: Pick free credit monitoring," [ [link removed] ]July 31st, 2019.
5. Ibid.
6. The Washington Post, "‘Did someone forget to do the math?’ Consumers,
advocates rail against lowered Equifax cash payouts," [ [link removed] ]August 1st, 2019.
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