If you had a gleam in your eye thinking about how you might get $125 from Equifax as part of their settlement, guess again.
The FTC announced today that so many people had already filed claims that Equifax wouldn’t have enough money to pay everyone, so …… the FTC says to take the free credit monitoring, which they actually claim is a better deal for consumers than the cash.
Personally, I’d take the $125 and then just put a security freeze on my credit reports for free, but hey…
So if you are trying to file a claim, you may have trouble requesting the monetary payout, although I’m getting mixed reports about that on Twitter from a few people who have tried with different results. According to the current site, you can still request the cash payment, but FTC is saying that you likely won’t get $125 and may be very unhappy with the amount you do get.
Note that the EquifaxBreachSettlement.com site has not been updated to say that you cannot get a monetary payout, but the FTC has changed its tune and its FAQ (#5). See FTC Encourages Consumers to Opt for Free Credit Monitoring, as part of Equifax Settlement.