By requiring customers to redeem the credit manually, Verizon is adding an extra obstacle to the process, knowing that many affected customers will never apply the credit, thereby saving money for themselves despite the massive service outage. Needless to say, this move sparked outrage on social media.

Receiving a text about a customer refund can seem like good news—until you start to suspect it may simply be a scam. That has been the case for Verizon customers who are now scratching their heads over a message about a $20 credit that was sent in response to a widespread outage this week.

Verizon Messages (Message+) is a popular messaging app offered by the telecom giant, but it will shut down next month. The app, which has over 250 million users, allows you to sync your text conversations across all compatible devices. Verizon Messages is ...