Should You File a Filters Fast Lawsuit for Consumer Data Breach?

A months-long data breach of FiltersFast.com has spawned a lawsuit investigation.

FiltersFast.com, an online home filtration products company, knowingly allowed consumers to shop on its hacked site for nearly six months, according to internet security firm RapidSpike.com.

Consumer Data Breach Affects 3.4 Million

According to Rapid Spike, Filters Fast was subject to a year-long data breach beginning July 15, 2019. The breach compromised customers’ personal information, as well as the credit or debit cards used to make purchases on FiltersFast.com.

A letter Filters Fast sent to the California attorney general explained that “malicious code” had been inserted into the website, enabling hackers to collect consumers’ data during checkout.

“The information potentially affected includes customer name, shipping and billing address, and payment card information used to make a purchase on the e-commerce site,” the letter states.

The company says that it was notified about the security breach in February, but did not remove the malicious code until July 10.

Rapid Strike points out that for approximately five months, Filters Fast knew that hackers compromised the company’s website but still allowed customers to visit and make purchases on the site. According to Rapid Strike, there are nearly 600,000 visitors to the Filters Fast website each month, meaning the company likely exposed millions to the threat of identity theft and fraud.

Further, Filters Fast reportedly waited even longer to notify customers that their information may have been used for fraud and theft. According to Rapid Strike, though the company knew something was wrong with the website in February and identified the exact nature of the data breach in July, it did not being informing customers until Aug. 14.

At least 30,000 Filters Fast customers were affected by the data breach, according to the letter the company sent to the California attorney general. Rapid Strike estimates that the number may be much higher.

Filters Fast is reportedly notifying customers and offering identity theft protection, but some say that’s not enough.

Filters Fast Complaints

Filters Fast maintains that customer information exposed in the breach will not likely result in identity theft, however, there have been reports by consumers who say they have already experienced fraudulent charges to the credit or debit cards used to make purchases on FiltersFast.com.

A number of online complaints about fraudulent charges related to the Filters Fast data breach point out that the company should have, at a minimum, informed customers about the breach sooner. Several complaints noted that fraudulent charges were made on their credit cards before they were notified that their information had been compromised.

Was Failing to Shut Down the Website Deceptive Conduct?

According to a Rapid Spike researcher, “Although these can be sophisticated attacks, the company did not act appropriately in minimizing data exposure. It is irresponsible for companies to knowingly allow their customers to shop on a website that is compromised.”

Rapid Spike points out a number of options companies can take if their website is compromised, including:

• Putting the website in maintenance mode
• Taking time to locate the breach and fix it
• Stopping customers from being able to enter payment and other information into the compromised site.

In addition, companies should protect customers’ information by ensuring they have appropriate data security measures in place.

In online complaints, Filters Fast customers say that the company should have notified its customers about the data breach much sooner.

Will There Be A Filters Fast Data Breach Settlement?

Lawyers are launching an investigation into whether Filters Fast engaged in deceptive conduct for allowing customers to continue to shop on its compromised site and by failing to notify them for months after the coming became aware of what happened. Though Filters Fast is offering identity theft protection, insurance reimbursement, and ID theft recovery services to some affected customers, these people may be entitled to more.

In fact, a number of companies have paid millions of dollars to consumers in data breach settlements.

A 2017 Equifax data breach settlement affecting millions of consumers resolved with Equifax agreeing to pay for either free credit monitoring or a $125 cash payment.

Yahoo! Inc. also reached a multimillion-dollar data breach settlement earlier this year. Yahoo! account holders who were affected by a series of data breaches between 2012 and 2016 can make claims for at least $100, per the terms of that settlement.

If you suspect your information was exposed in the FastFilters.com data breach, an experienced attorney can help you determine if you should join the Filters Fast lawsuit investigation.