I received the following in my spam email. Was Google correct to flag it as such or could I actually end up with some money from this?

I’ll provide the email with links rendered unclickable, & then the steps I followed in order to determine the veracity of this message. I hope it serves as a guide to help you decide how to treat messages you’re in doubt about. The quiz appears at the end of the article so you can give an answer and see if it matches mine.

from:
Katz-Lacabe v. Oracle Settlement Administrator do not reply at katz privacy settlement dot com
to:
my email (redacted)
date:
Sep 20, 2024, 1:09 PM
subject:
Legal Notice of Class Action Settlement: You May Be Entitled To Compensation
mailed-by:
do not reply at katz privacy settlement dot com
signed-by:
katz privacy settlement dot com
security:
Standard encryption (TLS)

Fri, Sep 20, 1:09 PM (3 days ago)

Notice ID: (redacted)
Confirmation Code: (redacted)
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Katz-Lacabe et al v. Oracle America, Inc., Case No. 3:22-cv-04792-RS
NOTICE OF PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

Our Records Indicate You May Be Entitled to a Payment from a Class Action Settlement
Because Your Personal Data May Have Been Collected by Oracle America, Inc.

A federal court authorized this notice. You are not being sued. This is not an advertisement.
(Para la notificación en español, visite el sitio web.)
A Settlement has been proposed in class action litigation against Oracle America, Inc. (“Oracle”). This class action alleges that Oracle improperly captured, compiled, and sold individuals’ online and offline data to third parties without obtaining their consent. Oracle denies all the allegations made in the lawsuit and any wrongdoing and maintains that its practices were lawful and disclosed to individuals.
Who is included in the Settlement? You are included if you are a Settlement Class Member, which is defined as “all natural persons residing in the United States whose personal information, or data derived from their personal information, was acquired, captured, or otherwise collected by Oracle Advertising technologies or made available for use or sale by or through ID Graph, Data Marketplace, or any other Oracle Advertising product or service from August 19, 2018 to the date of final judgment in the Action.”
What does the Settlement provide? Under the Settlement, Oracle will pay $115 million to establish a Settlement Fund.
To submit your claim, go to: www.KatzPrivacySettlement.com/submit-claim.
Class Counsel will ask the Court to award up to 25% of the Settlement Fund (i.e. up to $28.75 million) for attorneys’ fees. In addition, Class Counsel will ask the Court to reimburse them out of the Settlement Fund for the expenses they reasonably incurred and will incur in litigating this case on behalf of Settlement Class Members in an amount not to exceed $225,000. Oracle has reserved the right to object or comment on Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses in the District Court and has also agreed not to appeal any order of the District Court awarding attorneys’ fees and expenses. Class Counsel will also ask the Court to approve Service Awards of up to $10,000 each for the two Class Representatives named in the complaint as an award for their service to the Settlement Class as Plaintiffs and Class Representatives ($20,000 in total) out of the Settlement Fund. Class Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees, expenses, and Service Awards will be made available on the Settlement Website at www.Katz Privacy Settlement dot com before the deadline for you to comment on or object to the Settlement.
After deducting any Court-approved attorneys’ fees and expenses and Service Awards for the Class Representatives, and the costs of the Settlement administration, the Settlement Fund will be distributed to Class Members on a pro rata basis.
Oracle will also certify that, for as long as it continues to offer the products and services described in the complaint, it will: (i) not capture (a) user-generated information within referrer URLs (i.e., the URL of the previously-visited page) associated with a website user or (b) except for Oracle’s own websites, any text entered by a user in an online web form,; and (ii) implement an audit program to reasonably review customer compliance with contractual consumer privacy obligations.
How do I get a payment? You must submit a valid Claim Form by October 17, 2024. Claim forms may be submitted online at

www dot Katz Privacy Settlement dot com or printed from the website and mailed to the address on the Claim Form. Claim Forms are also available by calling 1-888-555-4036 (redacted) or emailing Questions at Katz Privacy Settlement dot com. You are not required to submit a claim, but if you are in the Settlement Class and do not submit a claim, you will lose your right to claim compensation in connection with the Settlement.
Your other options. If you don’t want to be legally bound by the Settlement, you must exclude yourself from it by October 17, 2024. Unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to sue or continue to sue Oracle for any claim made in this lawsuit or released by the Settlement Agreement. If you stay in the Settlement (i.e., don’t exclude yourself), you may file an objection or other comment no later than October 17, 2024. More information about these options is available at

www dot Katz Privacy Settlement dot com.
Do I have a lawyer in the case? If you are a Settlement Class Member, you have a lawyer in this case. The Court appointed as “Class Counsel” the law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP to represent Settlement Class Members. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.
The Court’s hearing. The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing at 1:30 p.m. on November 14, 2024 in Courtroom 3 (17th Floor) of the San Francisco Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102. There is no requirement that you attend the hearing—you may submit a claim, object, comment or exclude yourself from the Settlement without attending the hearing. At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, including Class Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees, expenses, and for Service Awards.
How Do I Get More Information? For more information, including the full notice, claim form and Settlement Agreement visit

www dot Katz Privacy Settlement dot com, or contact the Settlement Administrator by email at Questions at Katz Privacy Settlement dot com, by phone at 1-888-555-4036, (redacted) or by mail at:
Katz-Lacabe et al v. Oracle America, Inc.
c/o Settlement Administrator
(street address)

Philadelphia, PA 19103
If you are member of the Settlement Class, you may go to the Settlement website

(www dot Katz Privacy Settlement dot com) now and make a claim.
PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO INQUIRE ABOUT THIS SETTLEMENT OR THE CLAIM PROCESS.
This notice is only a summary.

The first thing I always do is to check to see whether the sender’s email authentication records, i.e., SPF, DKIM, and DMARC pass. It’s not necessarily a forgery if they don’t, especially if the message was forwarded through another email address, nor is it an absolute guarantee that the message is legitimate if they do, but it’s a good start.

In GMail, click ‘More message options’ > ‘Show original.

The message headers open in a new window, at least my browser is so configured. The relevant findings are as follows:

SPF:
PASS with IP 23.251.231.123

DKIM:
‘PASS’ with (expected domain redacted)

DMARC:
‘PASS’

With everything passing in the email authentication department, the next step is to do a bit of searching on your favorite search engine. I searched for the words “Katz privacy settlement” and “Oracle”. There were multiple search entries on the subject, all of which appearing to indicate that this notice was indeed legitimate.

So what do you think?

These sorts of settlements seldom pay much, though having thus said, I got nearly $1000 as a result of 1. Because it was for alleged overcharging, I didn’t get taxed for it either, as it was considered compensation for money I was cheated out of. When receiving one of these sorts of emails,check everything out carefully, and go to the address written in the email rather than clicking a link if the email indeed appears legit.