Equifax is begging people not to take the cash settlement because they can't afford to pay everyone they screwed over

As part of the credit bureau Equifax's settlement with the government over their catastrophic data breach that exposed 145 million people's Social Security numbers, those affected can file a claim to get either $125 or free credit monitoring.

But after people signed up for the $125 option in droves, Equifax, along with the Federal Trade Commission, are now begging consumers not to choose that option — because they did not set aside enough funds as part of the settlement to pay that amount to everyone:

The total size of the Equifax settlement is $650 million. This means that even if the entire amount of that went to restitution — and only a fraction of it is set aside for that purpose — no one would get more than a few dollars apiece.