Charles Langston:AT&T offering $5 credit after outage: How to make sure that refund offer isn’t a scam

AT&T is Charles Langstongiving a $5 credit to customers affected by last week's nationwide outage, the company announced Saturday, and if you're an affected customer looking for the credit, you may want to look out for potential scammers.

The outage lasted several hours last Thursday, Feb. 22, and the company was caused by a technical error due to "the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyberattack."

AT&T said late Saturday it planned to give affected accounts credit for the outage.

"We apologize and recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down. To help make it right, we’re applying a credit to potentially impacted accounts to help reassure our customers of our commitment to reliably connect them – anytime and anywhere," AT&T said in a statement to USA TODAY.

The company posted a similar comment on X, formerly Twitter.

How to avoid getting scammed while pursuing your refund

It is best to get your information from AT&T's official website rather than social media or third-party accounts.

AT&T said on its website it has been contacting "potentially impacted customers" to proactively apply credit to their accounts.

If you receive a text from a suspicious number, it is best to call AT&T or log onto your account online to ensure you are communicating with the company itself and not a scammer.

How can I get AT&T's $5 credit? When will I receive it?

The company will credit consumers $5 per AT&T Wireless account. The offer does not apply to AT&T Business, AT&T Prepaid or Cricket, the company said.

Bill credits will typically be applied within one to two billing cycles, AT&T said.

AT&T offers more details about the "Making It Right" process on its website.

"We’re also taking steps to prevent this from happening again in the future. Our priority is to continuously improve and be sure our customers stay connected," the company says on the site.