Equifax settlement: Additional payments are coming, here's who is eligible

(NEXSTAR) – It's a good time to check your junk mail.

According to an email sent Monday, some people will be receiving another piece of the $700 million Equifax data breach settlement.

The initial settlement set aside $425 million for consumers, and the upcoming payments are being made to distribute what's left of the money to eligible recipients.

The email, sent from an address verified by the Federal Trade Commission, states: "You have a valid claim and are eligible for an additional payment. It will be sent to you by electronic pre-paid card."

The email goes on to notify consumers that they will get an email from distribution@equifaxbreachsettlement.com the week of Dec. 16 with instructions on how to redeem the electronic payment.

Payment size will be in proportion to the initial payouts eligible consumers received, but the actual dollar amount is not clear. During the initial claim period, people could choose between free credit monitoring or $125, but consumers were warned that payments will "likely be substantially lowered" based on the number of claims payments.

Equifax added that the payments will be going to current members of the settlement class and no new claims can be filed after the Jan. 22, 2024 deadline.

The Equifax data breach

The data breach, announced in September of 2017, affected roughly 147 million people and was one of the largest ever. The "staggering" amount of data that hackers were able to access included Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver license numbers and credit card numbers, according to the FTC.

The FTC says that Equifax was alerted in march 2017 to a critical vulnerability in its database that handles personal consumer data, but Equifax failed to patch it until July 2017 when it started to detect suspicious network traffic.

Consumers can check here to see if their information was impacted; Equifax is offering free identity restoration services for at least seven years after the settlement date of Jan. 11, 2022.

All U.S. consumers are also allotted seven free Equifax credit reports per year through 2026 via the website www.annualcreditreport.com.

Anyone with questions about the additional Equifax payments is encouraged to contact settlement administrator JND Legal Administration at info@equifaxbreachsettlement.com or by calling (833) 759-2982.