AT&T Data Breach Settlement Becomes Final: What Eligible Customers May Receive

AT&T’s $177 million agreement tied to two 2024 data breaches has cleared its final major obstacle. A federal judge in Texas approved the deal, and millions of customers who submitted claims are now awaiting payment. For most people, the amount will be modest, with estimates ranging from roughly $6.50 to $40 for those without documented losses. Here is a breakdown of who is included, what each group may receive, and when the money could be sent out.

What the Settlement Covers

The settlement resolves claims from two separate incidents, each backed by its own fund:

• AT&T 1 ($149 million). A dataset that appeared on the dark web and was announced by AT&T in 2024. It affected about 73 million current and former customers, and the exposed information may have included names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, account passcodes and Social Security numbers.
• AT&T 2 ($28 million). Call and text records taken from an AT&T workspace on the Snowflake cloud platform. It involved about 109 million people, and the records included the phone numbers customers communicated with, along with how often and for how long they did so.

The court approved the agreement in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, according to OpenClassActions. AT&T has denied any wrongdoing. “We have agreed to this settlement to avoid the expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation,” the company said previously, according to LiveNOW from FOX.

How Much Each Group May Receive

If you did not submit proof of losses, your payout depends on which category you fall into. These are estimates from Kroll, the claims administrator, as reported by OpenClassActions:

• Tier 1, about $39 to $40. AT&T 1 claimants whose Social Security number was exposed. The settlement sets this at five times the Tier 2 amount.
• Tier 2, about $7.50 to $8.10. AT&T 1 claimants whose other personal data was exposed, but not their Social Security number.
• Tier 3, about $6.50 to $7.10. AT&T 2 account holders affected by the Snowflake breach.

Customers who documented losses could seek up to $5,000 from the AT&T 1 fund or up to $2,500 from the AT&T 2 fund instead of a tier-based payment. People covered by both settlements may receive money from both funds, but the same documents cannot be used to support two separate loss claims.

The payouts are relatively small in part because of how the money is divided. AT&T received 4,918,073 claims, and about one-third of each fund, roughly $59 million in total, will go to attorneys’ fees. More than 1 million claims were rejected, including 804,381 that were flagged as fraudulent.

Can You Still File a Claim?

No. The filing deadline has passed, and only people who submitted claims by then will be paid.

When Payments Could Arrive

There is no official payment date yet. Under the settlement, electronic transfers or paper checks will be sent within 60 days after the settlement’s effective date, which depends on whether any appeals are filed.

If there are no appeals, the final appeal deadline would fall roughly two months after approval, and the effective date would follow shortly afterward. That would put payments on track to begin within about 60 days of that point. An appeal would delay the process, possibly by months.

What to Do Now

If you filed a claim, watch your email and the official settlement website, telecomdatasettlement.com, for updates. Be wary of any message asking you to pay a fee or provide your Social Security number in order to “release” a payment. Legitimate settlement payouts do not work that way.

The money will not be life-changing for most customers. But after two breaches that exposed data tied to more than 100 million people, it is the nearest thing to compensation many AT&T customers are likely to receive.