Settlement Reached in Equifax Data Breach, WI Residents Encouraged to Check their Eligibility for Benefits

The Federal Trade Commission and Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul  – as part of a collation of 50 Attorneys General – have announced settlements with Equifax that will offer benefits to consumers affected by the company’s data breach in September 2017. The settlements include up to $425 million to help the roughly 147 million consumers whose information was exposed during the breach. Benefits from the settlement could include reimbursement for time spent protecting identities after the breach, up to 10 years of free credit monitoring or a $125 payment for credit monitoring they already have. The state Department of Ag, Trade and Consumer Protection is encouraging all Wisconsin residents to go online to FTC.gov/Equifax to learn more about their eligibility for those benefits, and to use the “look up tool” on that website to learn if they are affected and eligible to file a claim. You have until January of 2020 to file a claim.