INDIANAPOLIS — Verizon reports it “blocked” the culprit of a recent text scam targeting customers, saying so far there is "no indication of Russian involvement."
13 Investigates reviewed one of the messages, which showed up as a “Free Msg.” The customer was told their bill was paid for March and then offered a gift. It was part of a scam.
Here’s Verizon’s full statement to 13 Investigates.
Verizon has blocked the source of the recent text messaging scheme in which bad actors were sending fraudulent text messages to Verizon customers. In this case, the text messages sent appeared to come from the recipient's own number. However, it's important to keep in mind that attempted fraud using SMS spam is an issue that's been impacting virtually all wireless providers in recent months. We are actively working with others in our industry and with U.S. Law Enforcement as part of an investigation aimed at preventing spam messages as a type of fraud, and that work continues. On behalf of our customers, we're committed to stopping these fraudulent and illegal activities at the source. In addition, in this most recent incident, we have no indication of Russian involvement or that any of our customers' phones were compromised.
If you get a spam text, Verizon encourages users not to delete right away but instead to report it by copying the message and texting to "SPAM" or 7726. You will need to include the number the spam text came from. That will help the company track and, hopefully, stop scammers.
