Is that $20 credit score for the Verizon outage actual? Don’t click on a nasty hyperlink

Final week, Verizon had a large outage. Hundreds of thousands of wi-fi clients couldn’t get a sign, as a substitute caught on emergency service. For those who have been affected, you positively knew it—your cellphone was caught on “SOS” mode, solely able to calling 911.

Service was ultimately restored by the night, with Verizon then issuing an apology the subsequent day, plus a suggestion for a $20 service credit score. No catch… however you could possibly nonetheless get tripped up anyway due to scammers trying to trick individuals into clicking faux refund hyperlinks.

Don’t wish to get tangled in such a scheme? Log into your account immediately—it’ll bypass any phishing hyperlinks. However listed below are additionally the main points you must know concerning the refund, confirmed immediately by a Verizon spokesperson: How notifications went out, methods to get the credit score, and the place you’ll redeem the provide.

• Textual content messages with the $20 credit score provide have been despatched to affected clients final week.
• For those who didn’t obtain a notification however certified, logging into your account will present if you happen to’re eligible or not. 
• If eligible, the $20 account credit score will seem as button within the Verizon app or on the Verizon web site.

Outages final week affected elements of your complete United States, however not all Verizon clients. These not affected received’t discover any notification of their account. Those that do have it very clearly marked within the app and web site, which Verizon describes as a “Take Motion” button.

The way to keep away from scams about this $20 Verizon credit score

PCWorld

Obtain a message concerning the $20 apology credit score? If it’s legit, it ought to match the next particulars:

• You acquired a textual content message (not an electronic mail).
• The textual content message ought to come from the identical quantity that you just’ve acquired different official Verizon notifications from.
• You acquired the textual content message final week.

Once more, the simplest route is to go on to the web site or app and don’t trouble to click on on hyperlinks. You’ll sidestep doable phishing makes an attempt.

If $20 doesn’t really feel like sufficient of an apology to your scenario—for instance, different reviews point out that for household plans, solely the first account holder is notified with a single $20 credit score for all traces—you may strive your pleading your case to customer support. Some customers have reported success negotiating with customer support for higher refunds. As PCMag chronicles, a gig employee managed to get $200 again, in compensation for misplaced earnings that day.

As for the rationale for the outage? Verizon says it was a software program subject—not a cybersecurity incident.