Since 2021, T-Mobile has been reeling from a massive data breach affecting the personal information of more than 76 million customers. The telecom giant announced in August 2021 (opens in new tab) that hackers had accessed countless customer names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, addresses and dates of birth.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys announced a consolidated class action lawsuit (opens in new tab) in May 2022, alleging that “T-Mobile completely failed to meet its privacy obligations and protect sensitive consumer data. Instead, T-Mobile suffered one of the largest and most consequential data breaches in U.S. history.”
A tentative settlement has been announced, but affected customers have only a few weeks left to claim their share of the payout fund.
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T-Mobile’s response to the breach
In July 2022, T-Mobile agreed to pay $350 million to settle customer claims and $150 million to upgrade its cybersecurity, according to CNET (opens in new tab). T-Mobile also announced additional moves (opens in new tab) to avoid breaches in the future:
- “Creating a Cybersecurity Transformation Office that reports directly to our CEO and adding more top talent with decades of cyber strategy experience and leadership to our team;
- Engaging in long-term collaborations with industry experts Mandiant, Accenture, and KPMG to design strategies and execute plans to further transform our cybersecurity program;
- Committing to investing hundreds of millions of dollars to enhance our current cybersecurity tools and capabilities; and
- Conducting nearly 900,000 training courses for employees and partners across our company to understand their critical role in these efforts.”
How to make your T-Mobile claim
1. Confirm your eligibility for a payout
First, confirm that you’re eligible for the settlement payout.
T-Mobile has identified at least 76 million past and present U.S. customers with potentially compromised personal information.
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