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You may get it by mail or email.
Key points
- Equifax’s colossal 2017 data breach exposed a huge amount of consumer information.
- As part of a settlement, the company must now offer free credit monitoring to those who signed up for it.
In 2017, Equifax, one of the three major credit reporting bureaus, was the subject of a major data breach that leaked sensitive information belonging to millions of U.S. consumers. As part of its settlement, consumers had the choice to ask for a $125 lump sum payment or free credit monitoring from all three major bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Many consumers opted for the latter — free credit monitoring — over a lump sum of cash. The reason? Those who chose the cash option were warned that if too many people claimed it, that $125 would get whittled down to a much smaller sum. And so many consumers opted for credit monitoring because it not only seemed like the better deal, but also because of the peace of mind it gave them.
If you opted for the free credit monitoring option, you should be receiving a letter or email soon — or you may have received one already. It pays to act on that notice to put your protection in place.
