The FTC Is Sending AT&T Throttling Refunds by Zelle — How to Tell a Real Refund Payment From a Scam

Some former AT&T customers may find an unexpected deposit in their bank account. The Federal Trade Commission's AT&T Data Throttling Refunds page, dated August 2026, says the agency is now sending refunds by Zelle to eligible former customers who were sent a payment earlier and never cashed the check or accepted the PayPal payment.

Money that shows up unprompted is exactly what refund scammers imitate, so it's worth knowing what the real program looks like.

What the FTC says is happening

The case goes back to the FTC's lawsuit alleging AT&T unfairly reduced data speeds for customers on unlimited plans — "data throttling" — so that after a monthly usage threshold, common tasks like web browsing and video streaming became difficult or impossible. AT&T agreed to a $60 million settlement, announced in 2019. According to the FTC, the settlement first produced $52 million in bill credits to current customers and refund checks to former customers in 2020.

A later round, announced April 11, 2024, went to people who had not yet been paid and had filed a valid claim. The FTC said it was sending 212,893 checks and 54,841 PayPal payments totaling nearly $6.3 million, with checks to be cashed within 90 days and PayPal payments accepted within 30 days. (The FTC's current case page describes the 2024 round as "more than $5.6 million in refunds"; the two FTC documents don't match, so we cite each as the FTC states it.)

The August 2026 step is a clean-up: people from that 2024 round who didn't cash a check or accept PayPal are being paid by Zelle instead. Per the FTC, the payment lands directly in your bank account with a note about the settlement.

How to check a refund payment yourself

The FTC's refund FAQ gives a concrete test for any settlement payment: "A payment or claim form sent as part of an FTC settlement will include an explanation and details about the case. The case will be listed at ftc.gov/refunds, along with the name of the company issuing payments and a phone number for questions."

In practice:

• Find the case on the FTC's own list. Go to ftc.gov/refunds by typing the address yourself and open the AT&T Data Throttling Refunds page. Don't use a link from a text, email, or social post.
• Call the administrator number listed on the FTC page. For this case that is 1-877-654-1982. Don't call a number that came with the message that made you suspicious.
• Match the note to the case. A real Zelle deposit in this program carries a note about the settlement, per the FTC. A deposit with no note, or a message pointing you to a different "claim" site, is a reason to stop and check.
• Remember who the payments are for. Per the FTC's case page, this step covers people who were sent a payment earlier and didn't collect it. A message offering to add you to a list, for a fee or otherwise, doesn't match what the FTC describes.

What the FTC says a real refund never asks for

The rule is the same one that ran through the FTC's Amazon Prime refund guidance, covered in our Amazon Prime settlement post:

• No upfront payment. The FTC's AT&T page states, "The FTC never asks you to pay money to get a refund."
• No sensitive details. Per the refund FAQ, the FTC doesn't ask for your Social Security number or bank account information to get you a refund.
• No "send some back." The FTC's refund-and-recovery-scams guidance says: "Don't deposit a refund check for more money than you lost. Some scammers will say they made a mistake, to cash the check, keep the amount you're due, and return the balance. That's always a scam." That guidance is written about checks, and the reason is that a bad check can take weeks to be discovered after your bank has credited it. Our reading is that the conclusion carries over to any payment method: if a stranger asks you to return part of a "refund," verify the case yourself first and report the contact.

If something looks off, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If it involves your bank account or someone posing as your bank, our guide to verifying a bank fraud alert walks through how to confirm a contact using a number you already know is real, such as the one on the back of your card. The same habit applies to bills and settlement notices, as in the FTC's Doxo case: start from the regulator's or biller's own page, not from the message you received. The same 90-day check-cashing clock shows up in the FTC's Grubhub driver and diner refunds, so the habit of verifying before you deposit — or before you let a deadline slide — applies there too.

Bottom line

A Zelle deposit tied to the AT&T settlement can be real, and it doesn't need anything from you. What's needed is your own check: find the case at ftc.gov/refunds, call the administrator number listed there, and treat any request for money, a Social Security number, or bank login details as the scam version of this story.