T-Mobile settles suit over massive hacking for $350M

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T-Mobile US has settled litigation over a cyberattack last year that compromised information belonging to an estimated 76.6 million people.

The telecom company agreed on Friday to pay $350 million and spend an additional $150 million to upgrade data security. 

The preliminary settlement filed in federal court in Kansas City, Missouri, requires a judge's approval.

T-Mobile logo is seen displayed on a phone screen in this illustration photo. ((Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

T-Mobile disclosed the breach last August. At first, 47 million current, former and prospective customers were thought to be affected.

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The number was raised past 50 million, and T-Mobile said in November its investigation uncovered an additional 26 million people whose personal information was accessed.

Signage for a T-Mobile store in San Francisco, California,. (Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

T-Mobile denied wrongdoing, specifically, including accusations it had inadequate data security.

The company has said the information included names, addresses, birthdates, driver's license data and Social Security numbers.

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Friday's settlement covered nationwide litigation combining at least 44 proposed class-action lawsuits.

A T-Mobile store in Herald Square in New York.  ( (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) / AP Newsroom)

Class members may receive cash payments of $25, or $100 in California, and some could receive up to $25,000 to cover out-of-pocket losses, settlement papers show. 

They will also receive two years of identity theft protection.

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John Binns, a 21-year-old American who had moved to Turkey a few years earlier, took responsibility for the hacking, The Wall Street Journal reported last August.

The impact of the settlement to the company's bottom line is approximately a $400 million pre-tax charge in this year's second quarter. T-Mobile said it contemplated the charge and $150 million of spending in prior financial guidance. 

The settlement could be approved by December.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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