(WTNH) — A data breach, exposing Social Security numbers and other private information, by credit monitoring agency, Equifax, was exposed in 2017 and affected nearly 150 million people.

A global settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Trade Commission and 50 U.S. states and territories was reached on Monday, July 22nd in which Equifax was to provide up to $425 million in monetary relief to consumers as well as a $100 million civil money penalty and more.

According to Connecticut officials, Connecticut will receive $4.785 million from the settlement. Over 1.5 million Connecticut residents were impacted by the breach.

The option to file a claim was made available online which the affected consumer can choose to receive a settlement of $125 – at minimum; the settlement is larger under different conditions depending on out-of-pocket loses or if affected by identity theft – or free credit monitoring.

Now, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published an article stating that “The public response to the settlement has been overwhelming”. Due to this, the $31 million dedicated to this payout has been quickly depleting.

The FTC has stated:

“A large number of claims for cash instead of credit monitoring means only one thing: each person who takes the money option will wind up only getting a small amount of money. Nowhere near the $125 they could have gotten if there hadn’t been such an enormous number of claims filed.” FTC statement

Those that have not yet filed a claim are urged to choose the option of free credit monitoring as a remedy instead and consumers who would like to change their mind from the $125 to free credit monitoring can switch.

Email updates will be sent from the settlement administrator on the status of your claim.