A federal court has approved a settlement in a data-breach lawsuit brought against Fulton Bank.
- Under the agreement, the Lancaster-based bank will pay $750,000 to set up a fund to compensate victims of the breach, which hit a Fulton Bank vendor rather than the bank itself.
- The bank is not admitting any liability for the breach, nor did the court find it liable, according to the agreement, which was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
- The agreement settles a class-action lawsuit filed last fall against both Fulton and the vendor, a Georgia-based business called Overby-Seawell Co.
- A bank spokesperson declined to comment beyond what was in the court record.
- Efforts to reach attorneys for the plaintiffs were not successful. The lead plaintiffs were two Pennsylvania borrowers.
What’s the settlement: It allows victims to file claims seeking reimbursement from the $750,000 fund.
- They can receive up to $150 for “ordinary losses”; up to $112.50 for time spent dealing with the aftermath of the breach; and two years of identify-theft monitoring services and insurance.
- People who can document “extraordinary” financial losses from the breach can submit claims for up to $5,000.
- Victims can choose a one-time cash payment of $60 instead.
What happened: Hackers breached the Overby-Seawell network last spring and gained access to names, addresses, social security numbers and other personal information on slightly more than 100,000 Fulton Bank customers, according to a notice filed at the time with the Maine attorney general.
- The breach, which was discovered in August 2022, did not impact systems at Fulton itself.
- Overby-Seawell provides insurance-related services to lenders.
The comps: Other data-breach lawsuits have settled for higher amounts.
- Convenience-store chain Wawa, for example, has agreed to pay out millions of dollars over a 2019 breach.
