Late last year, we posted a notice from Verizon itself about scams like these, but a reminder won’t hurt.
Over the past week or so, we’ve seen multiple instances of fake billing notices from Verizon. They look good at first because the scammers have stolen language and artwork from real Verizon Wireless billing notices. We’ve seen messages with two different legitimate-sounding subjects: “Your Bill is Now Available” and “Thank You for your Verizon Wireless Payment.” Spend just a few seconds examining either, and you’ll see they are phishing scams with “pharming” links.
- Both contain information about a large bill or a large payment, designed to shock you into an over reaction–like clicking one of the links to find out what’s going on NOW!
- Both have been sent to mailing lists–and you can see the other addresses. Did all of us end up with the same exact bill for $928.39? How likely is that? And why would a reputable company expose other customers’ email addresses to anybody?
- If you hover your mouse over any of the links in the messages, you’ll see that they would take you to non-Verizon sites designed to harvest your personal information.
Want to check on your Verizon account, go to the real Verizon site where you usually sign in.
Get a message like one of the ones below? Just delete it.
Don't click any of the links in a message like this one. Instead, log in to Verizon's real Web site to check on your account.
Don't freak. Your card hasn't REALLY been charged that amount. Don't click any of the links in this message. Instead, log in to your credit card company site or the Verizon site to check your account status.