Over the weekend, you may have received an email about getting $10 from Facebook (NASDAQ:FB). While such messages are usually spam or scams, this one is actually legit.
It’s part of a legal settlement over Facebook’s “Sponsored Stories” system, which based ads on the Likes of users — without their permission or payment. The company has set aside $20 million in a fund to pay the obligations.
But of course, there are some important extra details. For example, about $8 million will go to attorney’s fees. This is always the first priority.
Oh yeah, and the claimants may not necessarily get $10. The amount will depend on how many respond. If a ton do so — which seems likely — then there will be no distribution if the average claim is below $5. In this case, the $12 million will go to various privacy charities.
Now, if you still want to sign up, you can do so even if you deleted the email. There’s a Web form where you can make your claim. The deadline is May 2.
Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook, a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He is also the author of “How to Create the Next Facebook” and “High-Profit IPO Strategies: Finding Breakout IPOs for Investors and Traders.” Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
A long-time follower of the IPO scene, back in 1999 Tom started one of the first sites in the space called WebIPO. It was a place where investors got research as well as access to deals for the dot-com boom. Tom also wrote the top-selling book, Investing in IPOs. In it, he covers all the aspects of analyzing an IPO, such as reading the prospectus, detecting the risk factors and understanding some of the arcane regulations. But don’t worry — if that process is too intimidating for you, thankfully Tom will do the legwork for you right here in the IPO Playbook blog.
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