If you had a Yahoo account anytime between 2012 and 2016, you can now participate in a settlement to recover losses. For several years, hackers were able to gain access to Yahoo user accounts and steal private emails, calendars and contacts in at least three separate attacks.
The breaches began in 2012, where Yahoo said no data had been breached, and continued into 2013, where hackers accessed more than 3 billion Yahoo accounts and stole names, emails, phone numbers, passwords and answers to security questions.
At the end of the month, Yahoo announced that if you were a Yahoo account holder at any time between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2016, and are a resident of the United States or Israel, you are part of the settlement and can file a claim to receive a share of the total settlement money (amounting to $117,500,000).
Can you participate in the settlement?
Yahoo said that if you had a Yahoo account between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2016, or were sent a notice of the data breaches in 2016 or 2017, and are a resident of the United States or Israel, you are a member of the settlement. You can contact the settlement administrator if you want to confirm that you are eligible to participate in the settlement.
How much money are you entitled to?
The settlement provides a range of benefits to compensate those whose data was compromised in a hack. You can file claims for the following:
- At least two years of credit monitoring services from AllClearID. The service includes identity theft monitoring – up to $1 million in identity theft insurance and recovery.
- Cash payment if you already have credit card monitoring and protection services. Yahoo said the payment could range from $100 to a maximum of $358.80, depending on available funds after other benefits are paid.
- Cash back up to $25,000 to cover over-the-counter fraud and identity theft costs resulting from a breach. You can also file a claim for compensation if you spent up to 15 hours of your time recovering your account after a breach.
- A refund of up to 25 percent of the amount you paid for a Yahoo account.
- Get up to 25% back on the amount you paid for a Yahoo Small Business User email service, up to a maximum of $500 per year.
How to submit your claim?
You can submit your claim as a basic account holder, paid user , and small business user. Israeli citizens must submit a separate application form. The website has separate forms for each type of claim.
When is the application deadline?
You must submit all applications – either electronically or by mail – by July 20, 2020. The settlement will receive final court approval which is set for April 2, 2020.
