Equifax Breach Settlement (from 9/2017 event) -- Received an Email Today with an Access Code

[TheBlackAdder]

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Back in Sept. 2017 there was a breach of the Equifax system and they offered 4 years of monitoring service or $125.

I signed up to get the monitoring service, and I thought that would have been immediate, not 41/2 years later.

It was so late, I thought this could be a phishing attempt as Hotmail placed the email in the Junk folder.


Did anyone else receive something like the following?

Issue Date: February 8, 2022

Claim No. xxxxxxxxxx

Dear xxxxxxx xxxxxxxx:

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. This email provides additional information about the services provided by Experian as part of the Settlement and how you can enroll.

You are receiving free membership in Experian IdentityWorks℠ for four years. You must enroll by June 27, 2022.

This service is free for you and provided as a Settlement benefit. You do not need to provide any payment information to enroll and you do not need to cancel the service when it ends. We encourage you to enroll today.


HOW TO ENROLL:

• Visit the Experian IdentityWorks Website: www.experianidworks.com/equifaxsettlement
• Enter Your Activation Code: xxxxxxxxxxxx


You must use the above code to enroll by June 27, 2022 (your activation code will not work after this date).

If you have questions, need help with Identity Restoration (either because you were a victim of fraud or identity theft) because of the Equifax data breach, or would like another way to sign up for Experian IdentityWorks, please call Experian’s customer care team toll-free at 1-877-251-5822. So that the team may better serve you, please be prepared to provide them with engagement number B023678 so that you may access the Settlement’s Identity Restoration services for assistance with fraud or identity theft. For more information on Identity Restoration services, visit www.experianidworks.com/equifaxsettlement.

I searched that email link supplied and this was near the top:

https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/

Important Updates:

The Settlement received final approval from the Court on January 13, 2020. You may review the Final Approval Order and Final Order and Judgment by clicking here.

Settlement appeals have been resolved and the Settlement is now effective. Per the terms of the Settlement, credit monitoring instructions with an activation code will be issued to claimants (who selected that benefit) by email or mail by February 25, 2022.

Initial Claims Period and Extended Claims Period claims for time spent and out-of-pocket losses are under review. You will be contacted if additional information is needed regarding your claim(s). Settlement benefits for eligible out-of-pocket losses and time spent are estimated to begin issuing in the Fall.

Then, I went to the FTC and saw this:

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/refunds/equifax-data-breach-settlement

Important Settlement Update

The settlement became final in January 2022.

The settlement administrator recently began sending emails and letters to people who filed a valid claim requesting free credit monitoring services from the settlement.

Eligible claimants will get free membership in Experian IdentityWorks℠ for four years.
This service is free for you. You do not need to provide any payment information to enroll, and you do not need to cancel the service when it ends.
To enroll, visit the Experian IdentityWorks website: www.experianidworks.com/equifaxsettlement(link is external), and enter the Activation Code from the email or letter you received. You can also call 1-877-251-5822.
You must use the Activation Code by June 27, 2022. Your activation code will not work after this date.
Legitimate emails about this settlement will come from Equifax Breach Settlement Administrator . The administrator will not call you about the settlement, but you can reach the administrator by phone at 1-833-759-2982.

There's more content on both of those links.


I went to Equifax.com and searched for the breach settlement and nothing popped up linking it to that other site.


While this seems legit, I just want to check that it's not some kind of well-engineered scam.


.

[ForgedCrank]

1. This is a sore ass

subject for me.
I find it unacceptable that a company can lose your data like that, and their only "punishment" is to offer you some cheesy short-term credit monitoring service in return. Then they pay some insignificant (in the scope of things) fine, and who gets that money? The government. Nope, not the people who were actually injured, we aren't even allowed to sue them for what they did.
I get really bent out of shape on this subject. It's out of balance in a bad way.

[TheBlackAdder]

2. And the monitoring is 4.5 years after the fact, not when the data was ripe in the crime marketplace.

[petronius]

3. I got it too, and I have a recollection of signing on to the settlement a long time back

All my googling shows it to be legit, but I'm gonna wait a bit anyway, just in case...