CLEVELAND — Cybercriminals are looking to take advantage of AT&T customers who were affected by the wireless company's massive service outage in February.
A News 5 viewer sent us a message she received purportedly from AT&T. However, the sender's email address didn't match AT&T's official domain (@att.com). The email apologized for the service disruption and included a link to get the next month of service for free.
Good Morning Cleveland anchor Mike Brookbank showed the email to Ryan Lippe, a consumer educator at the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
"Scammers can hide behind links, they can hide behind downloadable files," said Lippe. "So if you're thinking about clicking or double clicking, think again, delete, delete, delete because you could be getting malware, including ransomware, spyware, adware onto your device."
If you're unsure whether an email is legit, contact the company directly through it's official website or phone number.
AT&T announced it's giving a $5 credit to customers impacted by the company's service outage. The credit will be automatically applied to accounts and will appear within two billing cycles.
