Equifax Settles With Pro Se Plaintiff in Capital One Data Breach Case
Equifax reached a settlement with pro se plaintiff Venton Smith, who sued over 20 credit reporting agencies, banks and retailers in a June privacy lawsuit involving the 2019 Capital One data breach, said a Thursday notice (docket 3:23-cv-02804) in U.S.…
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District Court for Northern California in San Francisco. Smith claimed that as a result of the breach, in which an Amazon Web Services employee stole data affecting about 106 million customers, at least 12 of his accounts were fraudulently accessed to buy unknown merchandise. Fraudulent purchases using Smith's accounts for American Express, Best Buy, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Macy’s and Nordstrom totaled $92,300 in loans, merchandise and products, he said. Equifax and Smith are in the process of consummating terms of the settlement agreement and filing a dismissal with prejudice for Equifax, said the Thursday notice. Smith’s claims against the remaining defendants remain before the court. Equifax requested that the court retain jurisdiction for matters related to completing and enforcing the settlement. On Tuesday, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Smith's complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted and his claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations (see 2307130055. Smith failed to take reasonable steps to mitigate damages, and any damages he suffered are the result of acts or omissions he committed, said TransUnion's response.