Following a major outage last week, Verizon is offering a $20 credit to customers through a text message.  Unfortunately, scammers posing as Verizon are sending text messages posing as Verizon in which you are required to enter credit card information or bank account information in order to claim the credit.  Unsuspecting Verizon customers knowing about the outage may be vulnerable to believing the scam text message is legitimate and provide the requested information which, if done, will result in their becoming a victim of identity theft.

This is a good time to remember my motto, “trust me, you can’t trust anyone.”  While some of the scam text messages come from obviously international numbers and are therefore obviously a scam, others spoof the phone numbers of Verizon and appear legitimate.  You should never click on a link in a text message unless you have confirmed that it is legitimate.  Merely clicking on an infected link can download malware on to your phone.

TIPS

In this particular instance, I would not trust any text message offering you a credit even if it appears to come from Verizon.  Instead use your My Verizon app or type verizon.com into your browser and go directly to your account to look for a notification to claim the credit there.  Better safe than sorry.

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