If you were one of the 77 million people who were affected by the T-Mobile breach, you may be able to get some money. $350 million to be split up by customers and lawyers, plus $150 million for data security and related technology, is what the company has just announced. If you stay ready, you don't have to spend a lot of money.
Collections of T-Mobile customer data were put up for sale on various criminal forums after the incident. Estimates of how many people were affected ranged, with T-Mobile claiming less than a million had accounts and PINs exposed, and somewhere between 40 and 100 million users total with some data taken.
The settlement doesn't appear to have separate terms for people affected differently by the hack, but that may have been handled separately. For now, the class defined by the settlement document is the approximately 76.6 million U.S. residents who had their information compromised by T-Mobile, with a little extra legalese for Californians.
If you were a T-Mobile customer in August of 2021, you can expect a postcard because the company must alert the class members they are owed money. Depending on how many people respond and how much the lawyers take, the money is divided. As soon as December, the final settlement terms could be approved.
Chances are you won't be able to cover a single monthly mobile bill with what you get, but these days a $9 check might be the difference between "dinner" and "no dinner" for a few people.
In its SEC filing, the company said that it will be dedicating $150 million to improve its security. We'll find out soon.
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