AT&T Reaches Settlement for Data Breach Lawsuits for $177 Million: Here’s How You Can Claim Your Share.
The funds will be allocated to clients who were affected by two data breach incidents that occurred in 2019 and 2024.
AT&T has agreed to pay a total of $177 million to settle two class-action lawsuits related to data breaches, and affected customers are expected to receive a check soon. On June 20, the courts approved this settlement, allowing AT&T to proceed with the payments.
Of the total amount, $149 million will be allocated to a group of customers affected by a data breach that occurred in 2024, while $28 million will be designated for another group affected by a data breach that took place in 2019 and prior years. According to court documents, AT&T will prioritize payments to individuals who suffered direct losses due to the breach, and the remaining funds will be distributed among all customers whose personal information was compromised.
The company is already offering free credit monitoring services to the affected customers. Regarding the incidents, the first data breach was discovered in March 2024 when AT&T found records of 7.6 million current users and 65.4 million former customers on the dark web. Although they could not determine how this data was exposed, they reached out to customers to offer the free monitoring.
Later, on April 19, 2024, the company detected another significant breach, which was reported to the SEC. In this instance, a malicious actor illegally accessed AT&T's Snowflake environment and downloaded call and text message records of nearly all customers between May 1 and October 31, 2022, along with interactions from January 3, 2023. The repercussions of this breach are so significant that they continue to be felt in 2025.
If you have been affected by any of the breaches from 2019 or 2024, AT&T should contact you in the coming months to provide instructions. Between August and October, the company will send notifications about the settlement to impacted customers, including details on how to file a claim to receive their portion of the settlement money. If you do not receive a notification by October 17, it is advised to contact AT&T to verify your eligibility. Typically, there are also forms available online, although this is not applicable at this time.
Payment distributions are scheduled to occur after December 3, 2025, although an exact timeline is still unknown. According to the settlement schedule, AT&T must complete certain steps, including providing participant lists to the settlement administrator by June 30, 2025, and notifying affected customers between August 4 and October 17, 2025. The final deadline for customers to submit a claim form is November 18, 2025, with a final approval hearing scheduled for December 3, 2025.
