US carrier T-Mobile has agreed to pay $350 million to customers included in a class-action lawsuit filed after the company revealed in August that it suffered a cyber attack in which users’ personal data, such as Social Security numbers, were stolen.
In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed Friday, the company said the funds will pay refunds to plaintiff customers, the plaintiffs’ legal costs and the costs of administering the settlement. It also said it will spend $150 million next year to strengthen its data protection and other technologies.
T-Mobile said the settlement contains no admission of fault, fault or liability on the part of any of the defendants.
The company said it expects court approval of the terms of the settlement, possibly in December.
Nearly 80 million US residents were affected by the hack. In addition to Social Security numbers, other information stolen included names and details from driver’s licenses and other means of identification.
T-Mobile, based in Bellevue, Washington, became one of the largest cell phone companies in the country, along with AT&T and Verizon , after acquiring rival Sprint in 2020. It reported a total of 102.1 million customers in the United States after the merger.
T-Mobile said it expects to have a total pre-tax charge of $400 million in the second quarter of this year.