See if you qualify for Fidelity's $2.5M data breach settlement and learn how to fight identity theft

If you're a Fidelity Investments customer, you may be eligible for a payout stemming from the financial giant's recent $2.5 million data breach settlement.

Fidelity and its subsidiary, Fidelity Brokerage Services agreed to the deal on May 13, closing the door on a lawsuit alleging the investment giant failed to both adequately prevent a cyberattack and alert members to its existence after the fact.

In their complaint , the plaintiffs alleged that Fidelity detected suspicious activity on its network between Aug. 17 and 19, 2024, but waited almost two months before notifying customers. Calling the breach "preventable," they claimed Fidelity's "inadequately secured computer systems" allowed the attackers to gain entry.

According to their filing, some 77,099 individuals had data compromised, including "particularly sensitive and high-risk information," such as Social Security numbers, driver's licenses and financial account information. Court documents indicate approximately 86,000 more customers whose bank account and routing numbers were exposed may also be eligible for the settlement, even if they weren't directly notified.

The plaintiffs allege that, as a result of the breach, they suffered fraud, lower credit scores and the exposure of their personally identifiable information (PII) on the dark web.

Fidelity has denied any wrongdoing but said it agreed to settle because of "the uncertainty and risks inherent in any litigation."

"We remain fully committed to the security of our clients' accounts and personal information," the company told CNBC Select in a statement. "Litigation can involve a considerable amount of time and resources, [and] a settlement is one way to avoid this for both parties."

Here's what you need to know Fidelity's $2.5 million settlement, including who is eligible, how much you could receive, how to file a claim and what to do if you're the victim of a data breach.

Class members could number more than 160,000, including those notified of the breach and others whose bank account and routing numbers were allegedly exposed.

If you're not sure whether you are a class member, you can go to the settlement website , email [email protected] or call 833-386-6470. You can also the settlement administrator at:

Fidelity Data Security Incident Settlement c/o Settlement Administrator P.O. Box 25226 Santa Ana, CA 92799-9958

Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.

Eligible class action members may receive up to $5,000, depending on the nature of their losses.

To receive a payment from the settlement, you must submit a valid claim by July 27, 2026. You can file online here or download the claim form and mail it to the settlement administrator.

The deadline to be excluded from the settlement was June 26, 2026.

Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.

The settlement was approved in a final fairness hearing on July 9, 2026. If there are no appeals, attorneys' fees and the lead plaintiffs will be paid first. The remaining funds will then be distributed among other class members who have submitted valid forms.

In most cases, advice identity theft is reactive:

$9.99 to $24.99 per month

Experian, Equifax and TransUnion

Yes, for Identity and Total Protection plans

Yes, up to $1 million for Identity and Total Protection plans

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1-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, with Basic plan only and 3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion®, with Premium and Family plans only

FICO® Score 8, with all plans

Yes, up to $1 million with all plans

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There are some proactive measures you can take, though, like getting a password manager that can help keep your usernames, passwords and email addresses under lock and key. Services like Keeper and Dashlane add dark web monitoring and email masking.

Keeper Free: $0; Keeper Unlimited: $3.58 per user per month; Keeper Family: $7.67 per month; Business plan: $2.00 to $6.00 per month

Allows importing from other password managers, adjusts auto-fill preferences for individual websites and allows for one-time password sharing

Available for web, desktop, and mobile devices.

Uses a zero-knowledge approach, government-standard AES-256 encryption, supports multi-factor authentication and biometrics, and performs quarterly third-party security penetration testing

Premium: $5.42 per month, includes VPN; Friends & family: $8.13 per month; Business plan: $8.00 per month; All prices are per month with annual billing selected

The premium plan provides access to VPN, password health checker, dark web monitoring and allows you to securely store sensitive documents.

Available for web and mobile devices.

Uses a zero-knowledge approach, government-standard AES-256 encryption, multi-factor authentication, support for biometrics and has passed third-party security audits.

Even if you're not the victim of an attack, freezing your credit reports prevents anyone from opening a new account in your name. There is no harm to your credit score or existing accounts, and you can unfreeze your accounts whenever you want to apply for a credit card or loan.

Identity monitoring service Aura will freeze your credit without requiring you to the credit bureaus. It also offers a range of other security features, including a password generator, email aliases, a VPN, robocall filters and malware protection.

Kids: $13 per month or $10 per month billed annually; Individual: $15 per month or $12 per month billed annually; Couple: $29 per month or $22 per month billed annually; Family: $50 per month or $32 per month billed annually

Protects against identity theft, fraud, spam calls and websites, viruses and malware. Offers three credit bureau monitoring, VPN, dark web monitoring, password manager, email aliases and instant credit lock.

All plans include at least $1 million and white-glove fraud remediation

Yes, anyone in the U.S. whose bank account number and routing number were exposed in the breach is considered a class member, even if they weren't notified by Fidelity. In all, more than 160,000 people may also be eligible for the settlement. If you're not sure whether you are a class member, you can visit the settlement website , email [email protected] , or call 833-386-6470.

Unless you opted out, you are still automatically part of the settlement. But if you do not file a claim by July 27, 2026, you will not receive benefits or payments and you will give up the right to be part of another lawsuit related to the legal claims in this case.

Proof of losses stemming from the breach is not required to file a claim in the Fidelity case. Class members who cannot document losses may receive approximately $100 in cash payments, depending on the number of claims filed. California residents may be able to claim an additional $50 under the California Consumer Privacy Act.

If you can prove that you suffered financial losses directly linked to the breach, you could be eligible for a payment of up to $5,000.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed financial decisions. Every cybersecurity article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors . While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.