Yahoo offers 3 billion data victims up to $358, if you qualify
You have every right to be skeptical as another big company — this time it’s Yahoo — says you can claim some cash to make amends for a massive breach.
Credit agency Equifax was accused of a bait and switch after it offered $125 or free credit monitoring to those affected by its own sloppy data practices. But Equifax allotted only $31 million for claims, which meant that if all 147 million people opted for a payout, they’d get less than 25 cents apiece. The Federal Trade Commission advised people to take credit monitoring.
So now Yahoo is trying to make amends for its own data-security issues, which affected 3 billion account holders. The company has set aside more than $117 million to settle claims. But, needless to say, there’s a catch.
To submit a claim for a payout, you have to verify that you already have credit monitoring. If you don’t, you’re not eligible for money.
If you can verify an existing service, and you can verify that you’ll be keeping it for at least a year, you still might not get the up to $358.80 Yahoo is offering.
If lots of people go after the cash you’ll almost certainly get less.
Yahoo revealed it experienced two huge breaches, one in 2013 and another a year later. Emails and passwords were snagged.
You qualify if you had a Yahoo account between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2016. That entitles you to submit a cash claim or to two years of credit monitoring.
If you can prove the breach caused financial losses or significant time in dealing with problems, you might qualify for up to $25,000. You’d need to provide evidence of criminal activity.
Claims must be submitted by July 20. Visit Yahoodatabreachsettlement.com.