"This is a legitimate email and legitimate number."
AT&T, if this is your answer, you have some major problems:
1- It's completely unacceptable to be telling users in your forums in a thread that was started OVER A YEAR ago that this is legitimate!
2- Why is there virtually no information on your website about this phone number, and its purpose?
3- Why, when calling this number, is there NO pre-recorded identifying information about AT&T?
4- Why does the pre-recorded audio sound like it was recorded in a back room restaurant toilet?
5- Why do the agents all sound like they're from a foreign country, and ask for a LOT of personal information? THIS IS HOW PEOPLE ARE SCAMMED!
6- A simple Google search against this number, 877-285-0144, brings up dozens of links to people believe this is a phishing scam with no acknowledgement from AT&T on any of this.
People should be worried about their personal information. AT&T setting up a "secret" secondary phone number to identify and reset passwords is ABSURD! People should be able to dial 611 or the official AT&T number and connect to an agent. At least people will know they're connecting to a legitimate employee.
The likelyhood of a very low-usage AT&T forum moderator account (24 posts in 5+ years) being hacked and telling everyone a number is real seems more plausible than the number actually being real!
I still have extreme doubts about the legitimacy of this email and contact number!