The AT&T data breach settlement is a $177 million class-action deal covering two breaches the company disclosed in 2024. A federal judge granted preliminary approval on June 20, 2025, the claim filing deadline of December 18, 2025 has passed, and as of April 23, 2026 the court has not yet issued a final ruling. No payments have been distributed, and Kroll Settlement Administration is still processing the claims that were submitted.1Telecom Data Settlement. AT&T Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation Settlement
What the Settlement Covers
The consolidated case, In re: AT&T Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation (MDL No. 3:24-md-03114-E), sits before Judge Ada Brown in the Northern District of Texas.2U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas. MDL 324-MD-03114 It resolves claims from two separate incidents.
The first was disclosed on March 30, 2024, when AT&T confirmed that a dataset containing customer information from 2019 or earlier had surfaced on a dark web forum. Exposed fields included Social Security numbers, dates of birth, account passcodes, names, email and mailing addresses, phone numbers, and account numbers. About 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former customers were affected.3Security.org. AT&T Data Breach
The second was announced on July 12, 2024. Between April 14 and April 25, 2024, hackers downloaded call and text metadata from AT&T’s workspace on Snowflake, a third-party cloud data platform. The stolen records covered activity from May 1 through October 31, 2022, with a smaller batch from January 2, 2023. The data included which phone numbers customers contacted, call durations, and some cell tower identifiers that could approximate location. It did not include names, Social Security numbers, or message content. Roughly 109 to 110 million wireless customers were affected.3Security.org. AT&T Data Breach
AT&T agreed to the deal to “avoid the expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation” and continues to deny wrongdoing.4ABC7. AT&T Data Breach Settlement
How the $177 Million Is Split
The money is divided into two non-reversionary funds, meaning any unspent balance stays with the class rather than reverting to AT&T:
- $149 million for the first breach (the dark web incident involving personal data from 2019 or earlier).
- $28 million for the second breach (the Snowflake incident involving call and text records).4ABC7. AT&T Data Breach Settlement
Who Was Eligible to File
Two settlement classes were defined. The first class covered all living U.S. residents whose personal information (names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, passcodes, account numbers) was part of the dark web dataset announced March 30, 2024. The second class covered AT&T account owners and line users whose call and text metadata was downloaded in the Snowflake breach announced July 12, 2024. People affected by both breaches counted as “overlap” class members and could file claims against both funds.5Wolters Kluwer. AT&T Settlement Agreement
What Claimants Could Recover
Eligible claimants could seek compensation for documented losses “fairly traceable” to the breaches, with caps of up to $5,000 for the first breach and up to $2,500 for the second. Overlap members could potentially recover up to $7,500 in total.6CBS News. AT&T Data Breach Settlement
Within the first breach fund, claimants whose Social Security numbers were compromised (Tier 1) were set to receive five times the payment of those whose SSN was not exposed (Tier 2). For the second breach, claimants without documented financial losses would split a pro rata share of the remaining fund after costs and fees.7NBC DFW. AT&T Settlement Money Reporting by Mashable estimated that claimants without proven financial losses could expect payouts under $30.8Mashable. AT&T Data Breach Settlement Claim
The Claim Deadline Has Passed
Kroll Settlement Administration LLC handled claims through the official settlement website, telecomdatasettlement.com. Notices went out to class members starting in August 2025. The filing deadline was December 18, 2025, and it is now closed. Late claims are not being accepted.1Telecom Data Settlement. AT&T Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation Settlement9NBC Connecticut. AT&T Data Breach Settlement Deadline
Where Things Stand Now
The Final Approval Hearing was held on January 15, 2026, before Judge Brown in the Northern District of Texas.2U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas. MDL 324-MD-03114 According to the most recent update from the official settlement site, posted April 23, 2026, the court has not yet ruled on final approval. Kroll is reviewing and processing the claims that were submitted, but nothing has been paid out.1Telecom Data Settlement. AT&T Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation Settlement
There is no set timeline for the judge’s decision. Even after a final approval order is entered, any appeals filed by objectors could push payments back further. If you filed a claim, the practical answer is to wait. The settlement administrator will contact class members when payments are ready to go out, using the contact information you provided on your claim form.
Watching for Scams
The litigation is real, and the settlement is real. That does not stop bad actors from using the news to target people. If you get a call, text, or email claiming to be about the AT&T settlement, verify it before responding. Check the official website at telecomdatasettlement.com or call the settlement administrator at 833-890-4930.9NBC Connecticut. AT&T Data Breach Settlement Deadline Legitimate settlement administrators will not ask you to pay a fee to receive your payment, and they will not ask for your full Social Security number or bank login credentials over the phone.
Don’t Confuse This With the FTC Throttling Refunds
A separate AT&T payout sometimes gets mistaken for the breach settlement. In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission reached a $60 million settlement with AT&T Mobility over allegations the company misled customers on “unlimited” data plans by slowing their speeds. The FTC distributed $52 million in refunds in 2020 and sent out an additional $6.3 million in April 2024, covering more than 267,000 payments.10FTC. FTC Sends Refunds to Former AT&T Wireless Customers That case has nothing to do with the 2024 data breaches or the $177 million class settlement described above. If you received an FTC refund check in 2024, it was not a breach payment, and it does not affect any claim you may have filed in the breach case.