INDIANAPOLIS — The Attorney General's Office is preparing to distribute payments to hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers affected by the massive Equifax data breach in 2017.
236,616 current and former Indiana residents who filed eligible claims for restitution will soon receive payment, Attorney General Todd Rokita announced Tuesday.
“This Office’s years-long efforts to put money into the pockets of Hoosiers harmed by the Equifax data breach are finally coming to fruition,” Rokita said.
The Attorney General's Office sued Equifax, one of the world's largest credit-reporting bureaus, in May of 2019. The lawsuit came two years after the company suffered a data breach that impacted 147 million Americans, including roughly 3.9 million Hoosiers.
Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and credit card information were compromised in the data breach, which an investigation by a U.S. House committee concluded was “entirely preventable.”
Indiana was one of two states that decided to file its own lawsuit, and ultimately negotiate its own settlement, instead of participating in a multistate settlement in July 2019.
Indiana’s $19.5 million settlement exceeds the amount received by any of the 48 states that participated in the multistate settlement, which distributed $175 million to participating states, according to the Attorney General's Office.
Each person who filed an eligible claim for restitution at IndianaEquifaxClaims.com will receive approximately $79. The Office will begin distributing digital and check payments on March 31.
According to a news release, claimants will receive their money in the manner they requested at the time of their claim.
