Victims of Target Data Breach Could Receive up to $10,000

A settlement deal reached in a federal class action suit filed against retail department store chain Target could allow the estimated 110 million victims of a data breach during the 2013 holiday season to collect up to $10,000 in damages, according to Reuters.com.

Reports say that a website will be established that customers can submit and process claims regarding the security breach that started on Black Friday and continued until Dec. 15. USA Today reports that the form will ask potential claimaints if they used a credit or debit card at a physical Target store, not online, between Nov. 27, 2013 and Dec. 18, 2013.

According to the settlement, victims will need to confirm that at least one of the following happened following the data breach:

• Unauthorized, unreimbursed charges on their credit or debit card
• Time spent addressing those charges
• Costs to hire someone to correct their credit report
• Loss of access or restricted access to funds
• Higher interest rates or fees on the accounts
• Credit-related costs, such as buying credit reports, credit monitoring or identity theft protection, costs to place a freeze or alert on credit report or drop in credit score
• Fees paid on accounts, such as late fees, declined payment fees, overdrafts, returned checks, customer service, card canellation or card replacement.
• Costs to replace their identification, Social Security number or phone number

According to reports, hackers managed to bypass security and gain access to customer data when they used debit or credit cards at the cash register. The incident prompted Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel to resign his position in May 2014.

Federal Judge Paul Magnuson in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota granted preliminary approval to the settlement, The New York Times reports. Plaintiffs have until the final approval hearing on Nov. 10 to file objections to the deal.