Texts claiming to be Verizon often offer a free gift for paying your bill or send a fake statement. Verizon says it never asks for account details by text. How to check and report one.
What the text usually says
A fake Verizon text is dressed up as ordinary account business. Verizon’s own examples include “Thanks for paying your bill, here’s your free gift!” and fake billing statements. The link leads to a sign-in page, or to a form that wants a card number to claim the gift or settle a bill that doesn’t exist.
Verizon’s page also lists the other stories spam texts tell: that you’ve won something, that the IRS is trying to reach you, that a refund is coming, that your bank account needs verifying, that a package is on its way, or that a family member needs help urgently. None of those need the Verizon name to work.
What Verizon says it won’t do
Verizon’s phishing page: “Verizon will never ask for personal or account information by email or text message.” A text that wants your account PIN, your password, a code, or a card number isn’t from Verizon, however much it looks like the texts that are.
How to check
Check your bill and your account in the My Verizon app you already have, or on verizon.com typed into your browser yourself. Verizon’s advice is to “always manually type the official domain of a website into your browser” rather than follow a link to it.
If the text says you owe money, the bill in the app will say the same thing — or it won’t.
How to report it
Verizon asks for these to be forwarded: “If you receive a suspicious text message claiming to be from Verizon, please forward it to us right away at S-P-A-M (7726). You can also report it to the Federal Trade Commission.” The FTC takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
For a suspicious email that claims to be Verizon, the address Verizon gives is phishing@verizon.com.
If you already tapped the link or paid
Who to call depends on how the money left, and the sooner the better. Here is who to call for each way of paying.
Got one and not sure?
Paste it into Second Look, or text it over, and Rowan will tell you in plain English what it sees. Free, and no account.
Sources
What Verizon says is quoted from its own pages. Rowan isn’t affiliated with Verizon.
- Verizon: Smishing and spam text messages, checked on September 26, 2026
- Verizon: Phishing, checked on September 26, 2026
- FTC: How to recognize and report spam text messages, checked on September 26, 2026