A class-action lawsuit has been brought against Morgan Stanley accusing them of data breaches in 2016 and 2019. Morgan Stanley is an investment company offering wealth management services, market analysis, and insights into the financial world. Two separate data breaches in 2016 and 2019 compromised the sensitive credentials of 15 million Morgan Stanley customers. These breaches tampered with sensitive personal information like the social security numbers of customers. The $60 million class-action lawsuits blamed the data breaches as a direct result of Morgan Stanley’s negligence.
Morgan Stanley was incapable of properly disposing of IT assets containing sensitive data which led to the data breaches. The class-action lawsuit contends that thousands of pieces of unsecured IT equipment containing unencrypted information on Morgan Stanley customers can be found even today. The unauthorized third parties allegedly gained access to consumer data on gaining access to some of these assets. It has been pointed out by the plaintiff that Morgan Stanley failed to manage the data breaches upon discovery. The affected consumers came to know about the 2016 and 2019 data breaches only in 2020 and 2021 despite Morgan Stanley being fully informed about the issue.
Although Morgan Stanley has not admitted to any wrongdoing legally, they have agreed to resolve the class action lawsuit by paying $60 million. The company paid penalties worth $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of Currency in 2020 and the civil settlement is separate from that. The Class Members will become eligible for a variety of benefits including cash reimbursement for losses, fraud insurance coverage, and injunctive relief. They will also receive two years of complimentary access to Aura’s Financial Shield insurance coverage under the settlement terms. This benefit can be redeemed by the Class Members using the code on their mailed notice after they have registered with the website.
Under the terms of the settlement, the class members become eligible to collect reimbursement for documented out-of-pocket expenses incurred due to the data breaches up to $10000. The out-of-pocket expenses which are going to be covered here are fees for professional services of accountants, attorneys, credit repairs, etc., unreimbursed fraudulent charges, miscellaneous costs, $25 per hour for the lost time up to four hours, and up to an additional 5 hours of “documented time” at either $25 per hour or the documented compensation rate up to $50 per hour if you took time from work.
Morgan Stanley has agreed to injunctive relief under the settlement. The company will try to retrieve devices sold fraudulently to third parties by hiring a third-party investigator for one year. This will be done with an aim of preventing further data breaches with these devices.
Eligibility for Making Claim: The terms of this settlement are going to benefit consumers with closed or existing Morgan Stanley accounts who had received notices in July 2020 and/or June 2021 about the 2016 and/or 2019 data breaches.
Proof of Purchase: All available documentation of the identity theft and/or potential fraud which made the expenditure of time necessary can serve as a viable proof of purchase. Some examples of such documents are the police report, voided checks, receipts, bank statements, and letters from the bank or IRS detailing the losses alongside a detailed narrative description. Class Members are required to provide documentation of their hourly wage and the number of hours they took off from work if they took unpaid time off from work. The documents should be clear and readable copies as they will not be returned to you. While filing online, you need to keep this information ready and upload files (jpg, jpeg, png, gif, tif, tiff, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, pdf, txt, rtf, or zip) that are less than 20 MB. Class Members shall have to mail a printed Claim Form alongside your documentation to the Settlement Administrator if they are unable to upload a copy of the documents electronically.
Potential Claim Amount: Variable
Settlement Website: MorganStanleyDataSecuritySettlement.com
Objection Deadline: 05/03/2022
Exclusion Deadline: 05/03/2022
Claim Form: Morgan Stanley Litigation – Submit a Claim Instructions (morganstanleydatasecuritysettlement.com)
Deadline for Submitting Claim: 06/02/2022
Final Hearing Date: 06/08/2022
Settlement Amount: $60 million
