<div id="readability-page-1"><div>      <p>(NEXSTAR) — If you’re among the millions of AT&amp;T customers who had their personal data leaked in one (or both) of the data breaches that impacted the company in recent years, you have only a few days to claim your portion of a $177 million settlement.</p> <p>Payouts of up to $7,500 are available for those whose information was leaked in the breaches. Last year, AT&amp;T confirmed the breaches started in 2019 and 2022.</p>  <p>In the first, the personal information of about 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former account holders was found in a dataset on the “dark web.” In the second, the data of nearly all of its customers was found to have been downloaded to a third-party platform.</p>   <p>Two lawsuits were subsequently brought against AT&amp;T, and a federal judge in Texas gave two settlement funds — one for $149 million, the other for $28 million — preliminary approval.</p> <p>AT&amp;T previously denied the allegations in a statement to Nexstar but said it had “agreed to this settlement to avoid the expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation.”</p>  <p>“We remain committed to protecting our customers’ data and ensuring their continued trust in us.”</p> <p>Originally, qualifying class members had to submit their claims by mid-November, but that was pushed back to mid-December last month. If you believe you qualify for the settlement, or you’re awaiting your payment, here’s what to know. </p> <h3>Do I qualify for the $177M AT&amp;T settlement?</h3> <p>If you are an AT&amp;T customer, or were within the last six years, you may be eligible for a payout. </p>  <p>Included in the first settlement class related to the 2019 data breach are “all living persons in the United States whose data elements” — names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, account passcodes, billing account numbers, and Social Security numbers — were in the breach. </p>  <p>The second settlement covers account owners and line or end users whose data elements were involved in the 2022 breach. Data elements include telephone numbers of current and former customers, and “the telephone numbers with which those customers interacted, counts of those interactions, aggregate call durations for a day or month, and for a small subset of individuals, one or more cell site identification numbers associated with the interactions.”</p> <p>Kroll Settlement Administration, the settlement administrator, previously sent emails to qualifying class members. It may, however, have gone to your junk folder — you’re looking for an email from attsettlement@e.emailksa.com.</p>  <h3>When do I need to file a claim?</h3> <p>Soon. </p> <p>The claim deadline was moved from Nov. 18 to Dec. 18, which is this Thursday. You can make your claim online or by mail, as long as it is postmarked by the deadline.</p> <p>To apply online, you’ll be asked to input your class member ID from the emailed notice, as well as your email, AT&amp;T account number, or your full name. Then you’ll be guided through the form.</p>  <p>The deadline to opt out of, or object to the settlements, has already passed.</p> <h3>How much will I receive?</h3> <p>This depends on the class that you fall into and the damages suffered. </p> <p>Citing court documents, USA Today and CNET report that the highest payments for those impacted by the first breach are $5,000. For the second breach, the top payment is $2,500. Remaining funds would then be distributed to others who were impacted.</p>  <p>Qualifying for those large payments will depend on how you were impacted by the breach or breaches. </p>  <p>According to the settlement site, if you experienced losses in 2019 or later because of the first data breach, you’ll need to provide supporting documentation that shows “the losses are fairly traceable” to the incident to receive up to $5,000 in a “loss cash payment.” </p> <p>There are alternative options for the first breach. If your Social Security number was included in the breach, you can make a claim for a Tier 1 payment. If any of your data elements were included, but not your Social Security number, you can make a claim for a Tier 2 payment. Tier 1 cash payments will be five times the amount of Tier 2 payments, according to the administrators.</p>  <p>To receive the top payment of $2,500 in the second breach, you would again have to prove that any losses you experienced on or after April 14, 2024, are “fairly traceable” to the 2022 incident. If you were an AT&amp;T account owner at the time, you can also submit claims on behalf of other users on your plan.</p>  <p>Without documentation, you can apply for a Tier 3 payment. The payout will depend on the funds remaining after other costs and service awards have been paid, and the number of valid claims submitted.</p> <p>If you were impacted by both breaches, you may qualify for payments in both settlements. However, if you’re applying for the largest payouts, you’ll need documentation unique to each incident, administrators explain.</p>  <h3>When will payments be sent out?</h3> <p>It will probably be a while. </p> <p>A final approval hearing in the case that was originally set for December has been rescheduled for Jan. 15, 2026. It will still take some time after that date for settlement payments to be disbursed.</p> <p>For comparison, class beneficiaries in a massive $725 million Facebook privacy settlement started receiving payments in September after filing claims back in 2023.</p>  <p>It’s difficult to say exactly when payments in the AT&amp;T settlement will be disbursed, but a spokesperson for the company previously told Nexstar that payments are expected to be issued early next year.</p> </div></div>

<p>AT&T customers affected by data breaches in 2019 and 2022 can claim part of a $177 million settlement. Payouts up to $7,500 are available, with claims due by December 18. The breaches exposed personal data of millions, leading to lawsuits and settlement approval. Customers must provide documentation to qualify for higher payments. Emails from attsettlement@e.emailksa.com contain claim instructions.</p>

$177M AT&T settlement deadline nears: How to claim up to $7.5K