What Happened to Q Link Wireless? The 2026 Answer
By Arthur Patch · Last verified 10 August 2026 · Sources: FCC and U.S. Department of Justice
If you are here because your Q Link app stopped working, your login fails, or nobody answers the customer service line – that is not a fault at your end. The company no longer exists.
The short version – and the part that matters most
You did not lose your Lifeline benefit. Your eligibility belongs to you, not to Q Link. Whatever happened to the company, if you still qualify you are still entitled to the benefit.
Q Link Wireless shut down. The company and its chief executive pleaded guilty in October 2024 to defrauding the federal Lifeline program of more than $100 million.
Q Link subscribers were moved to StandUp Wireless so service would not be interrupted. If you were a Q Link customer and your phone still works, that is probably who you are with now – here is how to check.
You are not stuck with whoever you were transferred to. You can move your benefit to any participating provider in your state, free, as often as you like.
What Actually Happened to Q Link Wireless
This is a matter of public record – a guilty plea and a federal prison sentence, not an allegation or a rumour.
In October 2024, Q Link Wireless LLC of Dania Beach, Florida, and its chief executive Issa Asad, pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Florida to conspiring to defraud the United States, in connection with a scheme to steal more than $100 million from the FCC’s Lifeline program.
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Period of the scheme | From as early as 2012 through at least 2021 |
| How it worked | Repeated false claims for reimbursement · keeping Lifeline funds it was not entitled to · providing false information about its Lifeline customers · deceiving the FCC about compliance with program rules |
| Guilty plea | October 2024 – the company and its CEO |
| Additional charge | Asad also pleaded guilty to laundering money from a separate scheme defrauding a federal COVID-19 relief program |
| Sentence | Five years in federal prison for Issa Asad |
| Restitution | $109,637,057, payable jointly to the FCC |
| Forfeiture | At least $17.48 million against Asad personally |
| FCC action | Suspension and proposed debarment from federal programs |
It has been described as one of the largest criminal frauds ever prosecuted involving an FCC program. The company ceased operating. Its website, its app and its customer portal are all dead.
To be clear about who was harmed. The fraud was against the federal program, not against subscribers directly. Nobody is suggesting Q Link customers did anything wrong, and being a former customer does not put your eligibility or your record at risk. If you used Q Link, you were a customer of a company that turned out to be lying to the government about you – not a participant in it.
Where Is My Benefit Now?
When Q Link wound down, its Lifeline subscribers were transferred to StandUp Wireless so that people relying on the service would not simply lose their phone. In most cases this happened automatically, without the subscriber doing anything.
So there are three situations you might be in. Work out which one is yours before you do anything else.
How to find out for certain
One phone call settles it. Ring the Lifeline Support Center on (800) 234-9473, seven days a week, 9am to 9pm Eastern. Ask them two questions:
- “Is my Lifeline benefit currently active?”
- “Which company is it assigned to right now?”
They can see the National Lifeline Accountability Database, which is the only authoritative record of where your benefit sits. No provider’s app can tell you this reliably, and neither can we.
You Can Choose a Different Provider
Being moved to StandUp Wireless was a decision made for you, to keep your phone working. It is not a commitment. If StandUp suits you, stay. If it doesn’t, move – it costs nothing and there is no limit on how often you may do it.
- Pick the new provider first. Check they operate in your state, and ask what device is in stock for your ZIP code on the free plan tier.
- Tell them you already have Lifeline. They handle the transfer. Do not cancel your current service first – cancelling first can leave you without a phone in the gap.
- Ask to port your number at the moment of transfer if you want to keep it. Afterwards is much harder.
- Confirm the old service has ended. Only one Lifeline benefit is permitted per household, so you cannot hold two.
USAC publishes the official process at lifelinesupport.org/change-my-company, and the support line will walk you through it.
Which provider should you move to?
It depends on where you live, because it depends which network reaches your address. Q Link ran on T‑Mobile, and so does StandUp – so if coverage was fine before, it should stay fine.
| If you… | Consider | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Had good coverage with Q Link and just want it to keep working | Stay with StandUp Wireless | Same T‑Mobile network. Nothing to do |
| Live rurally or had patchy signal | SafeLink Wireless | The only major Lifeline carrier on Verizon, which reaches further |
| Want the most data | Assurance Wireless | The largest provider, best data-and-hotspot combination |
| Already own a working phone | TruConnect or any bring-your-own option | Free SIM, keep your handset, no waiting on stock |
| Specifically want an iPhone | AirTalk Wireless | The only carrier that stocks them – but read which models are real first |
Full detail, including which companies are currently in good standing with the FCC, is on our Lifeline provider comparison.
If You Paid Q Link Money
Some Q Link customers bought devices, top-ups or upgrades. If you were owed a refund when the company collapsed, the honest answer is that this is difficult, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
The company’s customer service no longer exists, so there is nobody to ring. The restitution ordered in the criminal case is payable to the FCC, not to individual subscribers. What you can do:
We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. If a significant amount is involved, a local legal aid office is a better source than any website.
What Q Link’s Collapse Actually Tells You
It is worth understanding why this happened, because it is not a one-off and it tells you something useful about how to choose a provider.
Lifeline pays providers per enrolled subscriber, per month. That structure means the incentive is to have as many subscriber records as possible – and the temptation, for a dishonest operator, is to have records that do not correspond to real, active people. Q Link is the largest example, but it is not the only one:
| Company | What happened |
|---|---|
| Q Link Wireless | Guilty plea, October 2024. Over $100M. CEO sentenced to five years |
| Sprint (now part of T‑Mobile) | $200M civil penalty for claiming subsidies on hundreds of thousands of dormant lines |
| TracFone (SafeLink’s parent) | $6M FCC fine – sales agents fabricated enrollment records |
| Total Call Mobile | $51M proposed fine for systematic program abuse. No longer operating |
| IM Telecom / Infiniti Mobile | Barred from enrolling new customers by the FCC, 27 July 2026 |
The FCC has since banned commissions based on how many Lifeline customers a salesperson signs up, which tells you plainly what the regulator concluded the problem was.
The practical lesson is smaller than it sounds. None of this means Lifeline is a scam – it is a real federal program that pays a real benefit to millions of households, and the enforcement above is the system working, not failing. What it does mean is that the company holding your benefit can change without warning, and that it is worth knowing your benefit belongs to you rather than to them. That single fact is what turns a collapse like this from a catastrophe into an inconvenience.
Questions Former Q Link Customers Ask
Why can’t I log into my Q Link account?
Because the account system no longer exists. Q Link’s website, app and customer portal were taken down when the company ceased operating. There is no password to reset and no account to recover. Your benefit, if it is still active, is with a different company now.
What is Q Link’s customer service number?
There isn’t one any more. Any number still circulating for Q Link either rings out or belongs to somebody else – and a number that used to belong to a collapsed company is exactly the kind of thing scammers acquire. Use the Lifeline Support Center on (800) 234-9473 instead. That is a USAC line, not a provider line, and it can see your actual benefit status.
Did I lose my free phone service?
Almost certainly not. Subscribers were transferred to StandUp Wireless specifically so that service would continue. If your phone still works, you still have the benefit. If it stopped, ring the support line before assuming you were de-enrolled – the benefit is often still there even when the service isn’t.
Do I have to stay with StandUp Wireless?
No. The transfer kept your phone working; it did not tie you to anyone. Switching to another participating provider is free and there is no limit on how often you can do it. See the provider comparison.
Can I keep my old Q Link phone number?
If your service is still running, yes – request the port at the moment you switch, through the new provider. If your service lapsed some time ago the number may have been released, and that is usually irreversible. Ask before you assume either way.
Am I in trouble for having been a Q Link customer?
No. The case was about what the company told the FCC, not about its subscribers. Being a former customer has no bearing on your eligibility and does not affect any future application.
Is Lifeline itself still safe to use?
Yes. Lifeline is a genuine federal program that has run since 1985 and currently supports around 8.2 million households. One provider committing fraud against it does not change that, and the prosecution is evidence that the oversight functions. Applying is free, through the National Verifier at getinternet.gov.
Will I have to reapply from scratch?
Only if your benefit actually lapsed. If it is still active you simply transfer it, which the new provider handles. If it did lapse, reapplying is straightforward – see how to apply and the document checklist.
Where to Go Next
Ring (800) 234-9473 and find out where your benefit sits. Then decide whether to stay put or move.
Compare Lifeline providers → · Check if you still qualify → · Apply or reapply → · Application problems and appeals →
Sources
- FCC – Notice of Debarment, Q Link Wireless LLC
- Federal Register – Notice of Suspension and Commencement of Proposed Debarment Proceedings, Federal Lifeline Program, December 2024
- U.S. Department of Justice, Southern District of Florida – guilty pleas of Q Link Wireless LLC and Issa Asad, October 2024, and the restitution and forfeiture figures
- USAC – Change My Company
- USAC – My Service Was Turned Off
- FCC – Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications
Verification and method
Page last verified: 10 August 2026. The account of the criminal case is drawn from the Department of Justice announcement and the FCC’s debarment record. These are convictions and matters of public record – a guilty plea entered and a sentence imposed – not allegations. Where we describe what happened to subscribers, we describe the transfer as reported and tell you to confirm your own status with USAC rather than take our word for it.
Found something out of date or wrong? Tell us – corrections are logged publicly on our corrections page.