Are You Eligible for Part of Yahoo’s $117 Million Settlement?
A Yahoo data breach, a TransUnion reporting error and a medication price-fixing scheme could all translate to cash in your pocket if you were affected by one of the latest major class-action settlements.
Yahoo Data Breach
Yahoo users could be eligible for a portion of a $117 million settlement over a data breach that affected billions of accounts.
Yahoo customers in the U.S. and Israel who had an email account through Yahoo or affiliated websites such as Yahoo Sports, Finance, Tumblr, and Flickr between Jan. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2016 could be eligible.
The suit alleged that Yahoo was negligent in the disclosure of billions of users’ personal information, including email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and security passwords, allowing personal information to be disclosed numerous times even though Yahoo assured users of privacy protection. The breaches purportedly occurred in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Potential awards include two years of credit monitoring or $100 to $358.80 cash; lost time at $25 per hour, up to 15 hours or unpaid time off work at your actual hourly rate, whichever is greater; and up to $25,000 in out-of-pocket losses.
For details on how to submit a claim by the July 20, 2020 deadline, click here.
Multi-State Lottery Association Scam
After a former IT director allegedly rigged the Multi-State Lottery Association’s computer to keep it from generating random numbers, the association agreed to a $4.3 million class-action settlement to resolve claims they failed to prevent fraud.
If you purchased a non-winning lottery ticket for certain lottery games that used a particular random number generator on drawings held on certain days, you could be eligible for compensation.
Former Multi-State Lottery Association IT Director Eddie Tipton reportedly installed software on the number generators that prevented the numbers from random generation. He allegedly rigged the results of nine drawings between November 2005 and May 2013.
Tipton won a $16 million lottery in December 2010 as part of the scheme and was later given a 25-year prison sentence for fraud.
If you’re eligible for this settlement, you may receive a refund for each non-winning lottery ticket purchased.
Without proof of purchase in the form of an unaltered original losing ticket or proof of registered play, you may receive compensation for a maximum of 10 tickets.
For a complete list of lottery games and dates that are included in the settlement, click here and file your valid claim by Jan. 7, 2020.
TransUnion Reports on CashCall, Western Sky Loans
Without admitting liability, TransUnion has agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve claims it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by including CashCall or Western Sky collection accounts on consumers in certain states where the loans would have been void.
Four plaintiffs alleged the collection efforts by CashCall or Western Sky loans included on their credit reports were invalid for a variety of reasons, including that in some cases, the debts had been forgiven.
In addition to agreeing to the monetary settlement, TransUnion agreed to remove the offending loan collection efforts on its reports.
Affected consumers include “individuals identified by Trans Union, on or about July 2, 2019, as having inquiries on their file dated after October 12, 2016, with addresses in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia at the time of the inquiries.”
Most eligible class members will automatically receive a $100 cash settlement, but class members from California will need to submit a claim form that includes their Notice ID and a 9-digit PIN.
For complete details on how to submit a claim, click here by the Nov. 2, 2019 deadline.
Provigil, Nuvigil and Modafinil Price-Fixing
Consumers nationwide and specifically in California could benefit from a $65 million price-fixing scheme settlement involving the makers of Provigil, Nuvigil and generic modafinil, all used to treat sleep disorders.
Consumers or third-party payors who bought or reimbursed the cost of Provigil or modafinil between June 24, 2006 and Aug. 8, 2019, in Alabama, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and/or Wisconsin could be eligible for a settlement.
The California case includes consumers from California who purchased Provigil, modafinil, or Nuvigil between June 24, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2012.
Consumer payments will vary based upon the amount paid for the medications.
For a complete list of the manufacturers who allegedly colluded, how payments will be calculated, and the requirements of submitting a claim by the Jan. 15, 2020 deadline, click here.
Motel 6 Latino Guests’ Info Shared With ICE
Motel 6 customers who stayed at certain Washington state locations between Jan. 1, 2015 and Sept. 17, 2017 could be eligible for part of a $12 million class-action settlement.
Motel 6 allegedly shared guest information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents upon request, which was sometimes almost daily. The information on guests was purportedly provided to ICE without agents securing warrants or establishing probable cause, according to the suit.
With the names provided to them, ICE made immigration arrests if a guest had a Latino-sounding name. The Washington Attorney General said Motel 6 violated the state’s anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws.
Settlements amount will vary “depending on the extent of the harm that occurred as a result of having your private information shared with DHS/ICE.”
Anyone who had their personal information provided to ICE will be eligible for $50. If questioned by immigration authorities as a result of the information provided by Motel 6, the claimant may be eligible for $1,000. Anyone who endured removal proceedings after being questioned could be eligible for $7,500.
The locations include:
- Motel 6 Everett North (10006 Evergreen Way, Everett, WA 98204)
- Motel 6 Everett South (224 128th Street SW, Everett, WA 98204)
- Motel 6 Seattle South (20651 Military Road S., Seattle, WA 98198)
- Motel 6 Seattle Airport (16500 Pacific Highway S, Seattle, WA 98188)
- Motel 6 Seattle (Sea-Tac Airport South, 18900 47th Avenue S.)
- Motel 6 Tacoma South (1811 S. 76th Street, Tacoma, WA 98408)
- From Jan. 29, 2017 to March 11, 2017 only: Motel 6 Bellingham (3701 Byron Avenue, Bellingham, WA 98225)
Click here for complete information and to file a claim by the Dec. 31, 2019 deadline.
Hot Topic Text Message
If you received one or more unsolicited text messages from Hot Topic between Aug. 1, 2012 and July 26, 2019, you could be eligible for a cash payment from a $2.9 million settlement.
Hot Topic was accused of sending text messages to customers who specifically declined to receive such texts, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Final payments will depend upon the costs of attorneys’ fees and other associated litigation fees plus the number of valid claims received.
In order to submit a claim, you must provide the phone number that received one or more texts from Hot Topic. For details and to submit your valid claim by the Dec. 13, 2019 deadline, click here.
Target Debt Collection
If you received an automated call regarding a Target debt collection even though you were not a debtor on the account, you could be eligible for part of a $7.05 million settlement.
Target is accused of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by calling customers who were not debtors between March 27, 2012 and May 15, 2018.
Affected consumers will receive $70 or less, depending on the attorneys’ fees and other litigation expenses. The number of valid claims received will also affect the amount of the final individual payments provided.
Check out the details and submit a valid claim by the Nov. 3, 2019 deadline by clicking here.
