AT&T Class Action Settlements & Claims Guide

AT&T has paid billions in class action and regulatory settlements over the past decade. The FTC secured a $60 million settlement with AT&T Mobility in 2019 over data throttling — AT&T had marketed plans as "unlimited" while secretly reducing data speeds for heavy users by up to 90%. Earlier, the FTC reached a $105 million settlement over AT&T's "cramming" scheme, in which AT&T collected millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party charges on customers' mobile bills. AT&T has also settled class actions over early termination fees, misleading "next" device upgrade promotions, and inflated administrative fees that were not disclosed at the time of sale. In 2024, AT&T confirmed a massive data breach affecting approximately 73 million current and former customers — litigation from this breach is ongoing.

In March 2024, AT&T disclosed that data from approximately 73 million current and former customers had been exposed in a breach of a third-party vendor. The exposed data included Social Security numbers, account passcodes, full names, email addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth. AT&T reset all affected customer passcodes and offered identity monitoring services, but did not initially disclose when the breach occurred or provide compensation for the exposure. Class action lawsuits were filed almost immediately, alleging AT&T failed to protect customers' sensitive personal information and delayed notifying them of the breach. If you received an AT&T data breach notification in 2024 or were an AT&T customer between 2019 and 2024, check the settlement cards above for open claims.

The FTC's $60 million 2019 settlement with AT&T Mobility resolved allegations that AT&T throttled the data speeds of wireless customers who had purchased "unlimited" data plans — reducing speeds by up to 90% after crossing data thresholds, without adequate disclosure. The FTC distributed refunds to approximately 2.7 million affected customers. AT&T separately agreed to clearly disclose all data speed limitations in all future marketing. In California, AT&T has also faced class actions over the gap between advertised and actual 5G coverage speeds.

To file an AT&T settlement claim, check the live settlement cards above for any open deadlines. For data breach claims, you typically need to confirm you were an AT&T customer during the breach window and received a breach notification (or can verify your account was affected). For billing overcharge claims, your AT&T account history is usually sufficient — no additional documents required. Official AT&T settlement claim forms are administered by court-appointed settlement administrators; SettlementRadar links directly to official forms. Filing is always free — never pay a third party to submit a claim on your behalf.

In 2024, AT&T disclosed one of the largest telecommunications data breaches ever recorded. Approximately 73 million current and former AT&T customers had sensitive personal data exposed, including Social Security numbers, account passcodes, names, email addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth. AT&T initially delayed disclosure of when the breach occurred, leading to additional regulatory scrutiny. The company reset all affected customers' account passcodes and offered limited identity monitoring services, but did not provide cash compensation.

Class action lawsuits against AT&T for the 2024 breach allege AT&T failed to implement adequate security controls, failed to notify customers promptly, and failed to adequately compensate them for the harm caused by exposure of their most sensitive personal identifiers. Separately, in July 2024, AT&T disclosed that nearly all of its wireless customers' call and text metadata from mid-2022 was accessed in a breach of a third-party cloud platform — adding a second major 2024 breach involving 109 million customers' records.

If you received a breach notification from AT&T in 2024 or were an AT&T customer between 2019 and 2024, check the settlement cards above for any open data breach claims. These cases are often still in active litigation — subscribe below to be alerted the moment a settlement opens for claims.

AT&T's history of consumer class action litigation extends well beyond data security. The FTC's $105 million cramming settlement (2014) resolved the largest known mobile cramming case in history — AT&T had collected hundreds of millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party charges from wireless customers, keeping a 35% cut. The third-party charges (typically $9.99/month for "premium services" customers never requested) appeared on bills as AT&T charges, making them nearly impossible for customers to identify as unauthorized.

AT&T has also settled class actions over: wireless early termination fees (ETFs) that customers argued were punitive rather than actual cost recovery; misleading device trade-in promotions that promised bill credits that were never delivered; unauthorized switching of customers' long-distance carriers ("slamming"); and misleading NextUp device upgrade plan advertising. If you experienced any of these billing issues as an AT&T wireless or wireline customer, check the settlement cards above for any open claims related to your experience. Even past billing issues may be covered by currently open settlements if the class period covers your AT&T service dates.