Some SMS are not being delivered

[kmartynov]

Hi,

I don't know what's going on and how to resolve this, but here is the situation.

I subscribed to some paid service that is supposed to notify me via SMS about rather urgent matters. They don't offer email notifications, so this option is out. When I subscribed, I received confirmation code via SMS and it was delivered OK. Then I started waiting for "real" notifications via SMS. Nothing came. I setup test alert that supposed to send notification within 15 minutes - nothing came to my phone. I chatted with support people of this service and they produced logs showing that SMSes were not delivered because my phone was turned off or was out of coverage. 

I kept doing testing and every time confirmation code is coming through, but only two "real" notifications were delivered. The company uses the same number for codes and notifications. I looked at my PM profile "Usage History" and I see all the logs and even some of SMS that were sent are logged. But they are not on my phone. 

I restarted my phone (iPhone X) few times, checked blocked numbers, switched on and off MMS, iMessage, checked APN. Most of the time the reception is only 1-2 bars, but other SMS are coming through even with 1 bar. If I send text to myself it is delivered instantly.

I don't really know what is going on and I am now worried that I might be missing texts from other people. 

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Konstantin.

[kmartynov]

Trust me, before contacting PM tech support I tried all possible things with iMessage and iPhone in general. Nothing helped. Nothing. 

SMS messages started to flow only after PM tech rep called me said (I don't recall exact wording) "Our technical folks had to perform some tweaking. Please check if you can receive SMS now." Me: "Was this tweaking done only for the number I am trying to receive SMS from? And only for my number?". Tech rep: "I am not 100% sure, but likely it is".

K

[Korth]

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@kmartynov wrote:
The issue was resolved for me today by tech support. Turns out these SMS were filtered out as spam because they contained URLs that usually look like phishing attack or spam. All is good now.

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@kmartynov wrote:
It was on PM side unfortunately.

I think your final conclusion is wrong.

To my knowledge, PM does not filter or censor anything. URLs with spam links, phishing links, scam links, or legit links are all delivered intact. Look through these forums and you'll see plenty of PM customers with screenshots complaining about such messages.

To be honest, PM doesn't even have the technical capacity to implement such blocking, even if they wanted to. Look at their utter lack of (CRTC mandated) UNCB, look at their website bugs and clunky Self-Serve and endless issues with AutoPay and SIM swap frauds and Number Port scams ... and tell me you're convinced they're tech-savvy enough to filter content one step ahead of spammers.

To my knowledge, iMessage is known for filtering and censoring and blocking all sorts of things. 2FA messages are often sent as standard SMS - not extended iMessage protocols. There are settings to toggle between iMessage and SMS/MMS. There are settings to toggle Apple's defaults for content filtering.

iMessage does all sorts of convenient, pretty, and wonderful things plain SMS does not. But it also breaks all sorts of things that plain SMS does not.

Turn off iMessage extensions - or just install a different messaging app to handle SMS - and you'll likely be able to send/receive all the URLs you like.

[kmartynov]

It was on PM side unfortunately.

[RosieR]

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@kmartynov wrote:

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@kmartynov wrote:

No. These are just text messages with URLs in them. I got log of delivered and undelivered SMS from my service (they were super supportive in this matter) and I just opened support ticket with PM. Messages are probably filtered out by PM as spam or phishing. Let's see...

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The issue was resolved for me today by tech support. Turns out these SMS were filtered out as spam because they contained URLs that usually look like phishing attack or spam. All is good now.

K

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Hi @kmartynov nice to know that your problem is resolved.  It is understandable that there is a filter placed after some spam/phishing attacks that happened a couple of months ago.

Stay safe

RosieR

[softech]

@kmartynov , so, it's PM filtered those SMS or  was it  your phone?

If it is PM, is there a way to un-filter them?   They did it on the backup for you?

[LoreckAvery]

Glad you got it figured out!

[kmartynov · Accepted solution]

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@kmartynov wrote:

No. These are just text messages with URLs in them. I got log of delivered and undelivered SMS from my service (they were super supportive in this matter) and I just opened support ticket with PM. Messages are probably filtered out by PM as spam or phishing. Let's see...

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The issue was resolved for me today by tech support. Turns out these SMS were filtered out as spam because they contained URLs that usually look like phishing attack or spam. All is good now.

K

[Figure it's best to know cause, rather than just contact mods .......... Luddite]

[esjliv]

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@kmartynov wrote:

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@kselmak wrote:

Hi

If they are logged that means you did receive them

There may be something wrong with your app.

Can you test it using different messaging app

Also try reinstalling and flushing the cache of your native app

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Some are received, some are not. Even PM's log does not show all of them as received. So something is going on here for sure. This is iPhone, so I don't really have many option here to delete cache or test with diff messaging app. 

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@kmartynov , can you try your SIM in another PM compatible phone and see if this still occurs?

Do you have the latest IOS updates installed?

[kmartynov]

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@kselmak wrote:

Hi

If they are logged that means you did receive them

There may be something wrong with your app.

Can you test it using different messaging app

Also try reinstalling and flushing the cache of your native app

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Some are received, some are not. Even PM's log does not show all of them as received. So something is going on here for sure. This is iPhone, so I don't really have many option here to delete cache or test with diff messaging app. 

[kmartynov]

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@softech wrote:

First, did you just port your number into PM or you have been PM customer for some time?

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I am with PM for more than few years.

[kmartynov]

No. These are just text messages with URLs in them. I got log of delivered and undelivered SMS from my service (they were super supportive in this matter) and I just opened support ticket with PM. Messages are probably filtered out by PM as spam or phishing. Let's see...

[HALIMACS]

@kmartynov 

This is just a guess, and perhaps more techy users can respond, however is it possible these messages are short code messages (premium messages??) that have to be enabled somehow by device?

Curious to see other responses to see what's happening with this.

I would reference some sites online, however do not wish to misdirect you until more informed users can help steer you.

[kselmak]

Hi

If they are logged that means you did receive them

There may be something wrong with your app.

Can you test it using different messaging app

Also try reinstalling and flushing the cache of your native app

[softech]

First, did you just port your number into PM or you have been PM customer for some time?