What a rough few weeks for America’s favorite company, AT&T.
OK, kidding. But not about the rough weeks.
The mega-corp has agreed to pay $177 million to customers whose data was stolen in two giant data breaches.
Also, AT&T’s longtime partner, Asurion, which handles insurance for AT&T products, accidentally sent an email to customers and former customers informing them of a new $17 charge.
You didn’t want to be a customer service representative that day. Complaints inundated call centers until an apology email from Asurion arrived the next day.
Let’s look at both. First, regarding that $177 million settlement how do you get a piece of it? Was your data exposed?
Who qualifies? According to Malwarebytes, priority and larger payments will go to those who can document damage caused by the thefts.
Related:Dallas means business, and so does our coverage at The Dallas Morning News
Maximum payout is $2,500. For a 2019 breach, the payout could be as much as $5,000.
“Remaining funds will be distributed to others affected, even without proof of damages,” Malwarebytes reports.
Notices to eligible customers should be sent by Aug. 4. The deadline to submit your claim is Nov. 18. Payments should begin by early 2026.
Lawsuits filed
In April 2024, AT&T confirmed that 73 million current and former customers were ensnared in a data theft.
A second data theft announced in July 2024 hit the company’s cloud storage. This affected more than 100 million customers. Lawsuits were filed.
AT&T spokesperson Kyle Loomis told The Watchdog, “While we deny the allegations in these lawsuits that we were responsible for these criminal acts, we have agreed to this settlement to avoid the expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation. We remain committed to protecting our customers’ data and ensuring their continued trust in us.”
Asurion error
Before I share the instructions showing if you were exposed, I want to tell you about the Asurion mess.
Thanks to Bob Warren of Highland Village for alerting The Watchdog.
His wife Patrice, a true member of my Watchdog Nation, checks her finances daily for irregularities.
On June 20, she received an alert from her bank showing her AT&T bill. She noticed that the cost had gone up by $17.
“What did you sign up for?” she asked her husband.
“Nothing,” he replied, accurately.
She went to AT&T’s website and located the new $17 charge on the bill. It was the monthly payment for “Protect Advantage” — AT&T’s customer insurance plan.
Bob told me that he believed AT&T was slamming customers with this charge.
“I had to waste 30 minutes to get it removed,” he said. “The rep said she had received many calls about this issue. All I wanted was to be removed from the program immediately without charge. The rep took care of this. You may want to alert your Watchdog Nation to check their AT&T bill to ensure they also didn’t get slammed.”
A big mistake
AT&T directed me to Asurion, where spokesperson Bettie Colombo said a “system error” mistakenly caused an email to be sent to current and former Asurion customers.
The email incorrectly welcomed them to the Protect Advantage program and noted it cost $17 a month.
A day later, on June 21, a correction email was sent.
“We want to let you know about a mistake,” it began. “Yesterday, an Asurion email system error caused some current and former Protect Advantage customers to receive a message welcoming them to the program. This email was sent in error.
“Please rest assured you have not been enrolled in any Protect Advantage program that you did not request. No new charges will be applied to your account. No action is required of you.”
It added, “We understand how confusing this may be, and we sincerely apologize for any concern it may have caused. Our team is actively investigating what went wrong and taking steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Is your data exposed?
As promised, here’s how to check if your data was exposed in the breaches involving America’s favorite company.
The way I checked is to do a web search for this: Malwarebytes and “How to check if your data was exposed in the AT&T breach.”
Scroll down to the blue button that says “Scan for free today.” Click on that.
Then enter your primary email to check if your data was exposed. Click on “Scan Now.” Enter the security code sent to your email. The scan launches automatically.
The scan takes about 30 seconds. Many will get this message: “Your personal information was exposed, putting you at risk of identity theft.” I’m exposed. Are you?
When checking to see if your personal data was stolen in an AT&T data breach, you could see this.
Dave Lieber
Who qualifies?
Who qualifies for a refund? According to Malwarebytes, priority and larger payments will go to those who can document damage caused by the thefts.
“Remaining funds will be distributed to others affected, even without proof of damages,” Malwarebytes reports.
Notices to eligible customers should be sent by Aug. 4. The deadline to submit your claim is Nov. 18. Payments should begin by early 2026.
If you believe you qualify, look for the mailed notice arriving this week.
In the Know: Protect yourselfUpdate your AT&T passcode, even if you’re not a breach victim.Sign up for Have I Been Pwned. Try the Malwarebytes digital scan. Go to Malwarebytes.com/digital-footprint or hunt around on their website.Make passwords difficult. Don’t use pure words; shuffle letters, numbers and symbols.Use 2-step authentication when it’s offered. The code comes to your cell phone or email.Get your free credit report from annualcreditreport.com. Type that in carefully and make sure you are at the government-approved site, not imitators that charge. Look for errors in your report and challenge them.Check out the Google Password Checkup tool. Find it by searching on Google.Freeze your credit accounts. It means no one can open an account in your name because their access is blocked. You’re blocked, too, until you reopen your account with a code. You can use your credit, but you can’t open a new account without unblocking. It’s inconvenient but worth it.Consider a paid credit monitoring service.Fraud alerts help protect you. Put them on the three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They are supposed to be free.