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Were you one of the 98 million people eligible for the Capital One settlement? In 2019, Capital One was the victim of a hacker who took sensitive information from millions of customers.
Capital One got sued for the data breach, and the credit card company settled the class action lawsuit for $190 million.
It’s been a year now since this massive lawsuit and potentially beefy payouts made the news and broke the internet. So, what happened? What are people saying now? What has happened since?
Also: Did you get paid? Was it easy? Share your experience in the comments.
We have everything you need to know about the Capital One settlement. But if you’re wondering who else might owe you money, you should browse our current list of class-action settlements.
Why was Capital One in a class-action settlement?
On July 19, 2019, Capital One discovered that hackers accessed personal information and data from Capital One credit card customers and those who applied for Capital One credit cards.
The FBI caught those responsible, but not before they got 140,000 Social Security numbers and 80,000 bank account numbers from the data breach.
Customers sued Capital One, arguing that the company didn’t protect their information. Capital One ended the lawsuit by settling for $190 million in December 2021 (without admitting any wrongdoing). The courts approved the settlement plan on Sept. 13, 2022.
Related: Regions Bank Will Pay Customers $141 Million for Illegal Overdraft Fees
Who got paid by the Capital One settlement, and how much?
Capital One said the data breach affected 98 million of their customers — and they were all eligible for settlement money. They received an email.
Anyone eligible for the settlement was eligible for up to $25,000 in cash reimbursement for lost time and out-of-pocket expenses related to the data breach. Customers could claim any unreimbursed fraud charges or false transactions, as well as money spent trying to prevent identity theft.
Capital One also said they’d pay at least $25 an hour for up to 15 total hours for any time people spent addressing issues related to the breach.
Class members also got three years of free comprehensive Identity Defense services from Pango Group (valued at $324 – $1,080).
So, have people been paid yet?
Approved claimants received a message sent to the email Capital One had on file, where they could choose their preferred payout method: digital debit card, a paper check, or PayPal.
Payments apparently went out in March 2023, and while it’s tough to know exactly how much individuals were paid — this was all based on privacy concerns, after all — the only traces of evidence on social media aren’t too happy.
Some people weren’t so happy, though. One Capital One customer said on X that he although he filed for the settlement and had spent hours dealing with the fallout of the data breach, he was denied any compensation.
Another customer said she received a payout check from Capital One, but it “wasn’t for much.” On Reddit, lots of claimants said they hadn’t heard anything from Capital One by the end of March, and one claimant said he was required to provide additional information for his claim to be considered, but hadn’t heard anything back.
Capital One could owe you more money in the future — they’re in the midst of another class-action lawsuit.
It looks like more money from Capital One could be on the way. They’re involved in another class action lawsuit that was filed May 2, 2022, this time involving Zelle — an online payments company promoted by Capital One.
The class-action started with one customer, who said that when he sent $2,000 through the Capital One app via Zelle to a scammer, Capital One did not stop the payment or reimburse him. Now, he’s suing Capital One and gathering other customers, seeking compensation in the wake of “huge, undisclosed security risks” of their use of Zelle.
We’re not quite at the point where the class action lawsuit would be accepting claims, but that’s likely coming soon.
