Approximately 147.9 million consumers were impacted by the Equifax data breach. The consumer credit reporting agency came under additional fire in the weeks after the breach was announced for allegedly flawed cybersecurity measures that allowed hackers easy access to sensitive consumer data.
Our attorneys are investigating claims that consumer credit reporting agency Equifax’s negligent cybersecurity measures resulted in 143 million Americans’ personal data being exposed by hackers, putting consumers at risk for identity theft, financial losses, and more.
Kreyòl Ayisyen (855) 411-2372 The Bureau In this section Show Hide The Bureau Bureau Structure Leadership Calendar The Director Rohit Chopra, Director Rohit Chopra is Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Sept. 12, 2017: Equifax CEO Richard Smith issues an apology to the public in a USA Today op-ed, calling the breach “the most humbling moment in our 118-year history.” Sept. 26, 2017: Equifax CEO Richard Smith announces his retirement “effective immediately,” weeks after the company revealed the massive data breach.
Equifax data breach class action lawsuit settlement updates: On June 3, 2021, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the $425 million Equifax data breach settlement. It is not known at this time how quickly claims will be paid. Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as they become available.
As recounted on the FTC website “In September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people. The company has agreed to a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 U.S. states and territories.
Consumers submitted more than 700,000 complaints to the CFPB regarding Equifax, Experian and TransUnion from January 2020 through September 2021, which represented more than 50% of all complaints received by the agency for that period.
Deadline: Nov. And it's similar to some of the settlements you hear about in court — if you settle, you're done. You cannot bring it up in court again. You cannot sue Equifax for harm caused by the breach, because you were already a member of the group that settled.
You filed a claim in the Equifax Data Breach Settlement and chose to receive free, three-bureau (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) credit monitoring from Experian for four years. Implementation of the Settlement was delayed by appeals; however, the Settlement is now effective because appellate courts have affirmed it.
After a data breach in 2017 exposed personal data of more than 147 million consumers, including in some cases Social Security and driver's license numbers, credit bureau Equifax agreed to pay hundreds of millions in compensation to help affected consumers.
You can file a complaint against Equifax by logging it online using the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaint tool or by submitting it to your state's attorney general.
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)In 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) began supervising the larger credit bureaus, specifically those which had more than $7 million in annual receipts (around 30 companies, or about 94 percent of the market) as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
There's been plenty of talk in today's political world that the CFPB has little power and serves little purpose. But as far as filling out a complaint and getting a response from a financial institution, it's still very effective in my experience.
The FCRA gives you the right to dispute Equifax for an error on your credit report and have the error removed....How to File an Equifax Credit Report DisputeFill out the Equifax online dispute form.Call the toll-free dispute phone number listed below.Write a dispute letter and mail it to the address below.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury in Atlanta delivered a nine-count indictment accusing four hackers and members of China's People's Liberation Army – Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke and Liu Lei – of serving as masterminds of the hack.
The company has agreed to a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 U.S. states and territories. The settlement includes up to $425 million to help people affected by the data breach.
On September 7, Equifax revealed that the personal data of 143 million individuals was potentially compromised. In response, Equifax created a website for consumers to identify whether they were one ...
The CFPB released its study in 2015. It criticized mandatory arbitration provisions and specifically called out the use of class action waivers. In July 2017, the CFPB issued a rule that goes far, prohibiting “providers of certain consumer financial products and services” from including class action waivers in arbitration agreements.
The irony and anomaly of the CFPB rule is that the underlying study took so long that by the time the rule finally issued, there was a new Administration and new Congress. Whether the rule survives that change is a pending and close question.
Because over the last decade, fueled by a number of U.S. Supreme Court cases, arbitration clauses have been used to change consumer litigation. Businesses have administered an effective one-two punch, first requiring consumers to agree to arbitration in their contracts (such as credit card, cable TV and cell phone agreements), and then second, ...
In 2010, as part of the Dodd Frank reforms, Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and directed the new agency to study and promulgate regulations on the use of mandatory arbitration provisions in consumer financial contracts. The CFPB released its study in 2015. It criticized mandatory arbitration provisions ...
Chamber of Commerce and other organizations filed suit in federal court in Texas claiming the rule violates both the Administrative Procedures Act and the agency’s organic act, Dodd Frank, because it fails to advance the public interest or consumer welfare.
Part of the Equifax settlement included a choice for consumers. They could opt for free credit monitoring for up to 10 years or get up to $125. For about a week, there was anticipation that many affected consumers who get credit monitoring on their own could receive some decent money from Equifax.
The company has agreed to pay $175 million to 48 states, the District and Puerto Rico, as well as $100 million to the CFPB in civil penalties.
Under the settlement, Equifax has also agreed to pay $175 million in fines to the Attorneys General of 48 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; $100 million in fines to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB); and $10 million in fines to New York State’s Department of Financial Services.
The first four years of credit-monitoring service will include monitoring by all three of the big three credit reporting agencies, while years five through 10 will be made available through Equifax.
During his tenure at the FTC, he successfully worked to strengthen sanctions against repeat offenders, to reverse the agency’s reliance on no-money, no-fault settlements in fraud cases, and to halt abuses of small businesses. He also led efforts to revitalize dormant authorities, such as those to protect the Made in USA label and to promote competition.
Prior to his government service, Chopra worked at McKinsey & Company, the global management consultancy, where he worked in the financial services, health care, and consumer technology sectors.
The settlement requires Equifax to pay up to $425 million into a restitution fund for affected consumers, pay another $175 million to states in penalties, and offer additional benefits like credit monitoring and consumer assistance for eligible consumers.
Data exposed by the breach included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and in some instances, driver’s license numbers. Equifax did not disclose the breach, which lasted from mid-May through July 2017, until September 2017.
In addition to the restitution and credit monitoring provided by the settlement, Equifax will pay $175 million in penalties to the states, including more than $18.7 million to California, to support continued oversight and enforcement of consumer protection laws.
In September 2017 , Equifax announced a breach that exposed the personal data of approximately 147 million people. If your data was impacted, under a legal settlement, you may claim free services and payments.
We're the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly.
You can get six free credit reports from Equifax in a 12-month period, for seven years beginning January 2020. These are in addition to the free reports you’re already entitled to under the law.
You can request reimbursement if you spent money, for example: For certain Equifax products before the breach. To freeze or unfreeze your credit. For credit monitoring services. Dealing with fraud or identity theft after the breach.
Equifax has been criticized by consumer advocates, lawyers, and government officials alike for the length of time it took the company to publicly reveal the data breach. This gave cybercriminals weeks of unfettered access to the information before victims knew they were at risk.
Unlike many previous data breaches, which revealed email addresses or passwords, the data leaked in the Equifax breach included highly sensitive personal identifying information.
As a result of the sheer amount of sensitive data revealed to potential cybercriminals, as well as the company’s negligence in protecting consumer information and disclosing the data breach in a timely manner , many consider the Equifax data breach to be the worst in our country’s history.
Cybersecurity experts discovered that Equifax failed to install a patch in March, allowing hackers to exploit a vulnerability in ...
Here are the series of events that took place before, during, and after Equifax announced its data breach: 1 Mid-May, 2017: Hackers gain unauthorized access to Equifax’s consumer data. 2 Late-July, 2017: Equifax discovers that hackers have infiltrated company servers and gained access to the consumer information of 143 million Americans. 3 Sept. 7, 2017: Equifax publicly announces the data breach. Morgan & Morgan attorney John Yanchunis files a class action against credit bureau Equifax. 4 Sept. 12, 2017: Equifax CEO Richard Smith issues an apology to the public in a USA Today op-ed, calling the breach “the most humbling moment in our 118-year history.” 5 Sept. 26, 2017: Equifax CEO Richard Smith announces his retirement “effective immediately,” weeks after the company revealed the massive data breach. 6 Feb. 11, 2018: Documents submitted to Congress reveal that the data stolen in Equifax data breach also included tax identification numbers and driver’s license states and issuance dates. 7 March 1, 2018: Equifax announces that an additional 2.4 million Americans were affected by last year's data breach. Approximately 147.9 million consumers were impacted by the Equifax data breach.
11, 2018: Documents submitted to Congress reveal that the data stolen in Equifax data breach also included tax identification numbers and driver’s license states and issuance dates.
Because the company’s IT team neglected to follow cybersecurity standards and install a patch for a two-month-old bug — despite being alerted to the bug’s existence — 143 million Americans’ personal information was put at jeopardy.