Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Friday that those affected by a 2017 Equifax data leak should quickly apply for $125 in cash payouts, but the likelihood that anyone receives that amount of money decreased drastically because of her call to action.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted out a link to the website to file claims against the credit reporting agency.
“Everyone: go get your check from Equifax! $125 is a nice chunk of change,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Get that money and pay off a bill, sock it away, take a day off, treat yourself, whatever you’d like – but cash ?? that ?? check! ?? ? It takes one minute.”
Everyone: go get your check from Equifax!
$125 is a nice chunk of change.
Get that money and pay off a bill, sock it away, take a day off, treat yourself, whatever you’d like – but cash ?? that ?? check! ??
? It takes one minute. Do it here ?: https://t.co/sy7eZCuLi6 https://t.co/OdgYrlJZbh
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 26, 2019
Equifax settled with the Federal Trade Commission this week for $700 million and agreed to generate a $575 million fund, though only about $31 million has been appropriated for cash payments.
The New York Post reported that if every one of the 147 million people affected by the breach applied for checks, they would only receive 21 cents per person.
According to the Verge, the vast amount of money from the fund would be designated for free credit monitoring services or greater payment amounts if people can prove they endured identity theft because of the leak.
Ocasio-Cortez sent out a follow-up tweet encouraging her followers to apply for free credit monitoring services instead.
“Okay everyone UPDATE on Equifax: for most people the better deal is 10 years of free credit monitoring,” the congresswoman tweeted.
“There’s apparently a run on settlements so there’s anxiety people are going to get 16 cent checks. But if you choose 10 years of credit monitoring, Equifax *must* cover it.”
