Your inbox could contain real money—or a trap. I made two fake settlement claim sites in five minutes, and I’m here to tell you how to tell a legit settlement notice site from a data-stealing fake.
Sometimes a data breach results in more than an email and a few free months of credit monitoring. In September, Facebook began paying out claims from 2023’s massive $725 million privacy settlement, and claim notices started going out for AT&T’s $177 million settlement, so a lot of people are checking their inboxes. Getting justice in the form of cash for your lost or stolen private data is the best outcome we can hope for in an era of near-constant data breaches. Unfortunately, scammers are also always looking for a payday, and it’s incredibly easy to whip up fake settlement claim emails and websites designed to steal your private data, like your email address, social security number, or banking information: I made two in less than 5 minutes. Spotting fakes isn’t always easy, but there are ways to get your money without losing everything else in the process.
