Reddit
reddit.com › r/tmobile › aargh! finally solved t-mobile blocking of sms short codes
r/tmobile on Reddit: Aargh! Finally solved T-Mobile blocking of SMS Short Codes
February 16, 2019 -
TL:DR at the end.
Quick background: An SMS Short Code is 5-6 digit phone number that is used by businesses to send text messages. Some businesses use SMS Short Code messages for security. Dropbox is one of those. They offer a two-factor authentication method in which you log in with a username & password, then they send a text message from Short Code #732873 with a security PIN to finish your login.
I recently switched my phone to T-Mobile, and selected the Simple Choice plan, a month-to-month no-contract plan.
Next time I tried to log in to Dropbox, the app prompted me for a code that hey had sent via text. No text message. Tried again and again. No text.
Contacted Dropbox support, but for some reason they're fixated on sending a text code. Round and round, they wouldn't budge from requiring the code they sent - which I wasn't getting.
While that was going on I was calling T-Mobile support and getting the party line from them: "There's no text message block on your account, sir." They implied that Dropbox was screwing up. After several troubleshooting calls they escalated my problem, telling me that tech support was researching and would get back to me in 2-3 days.
Googling the issue repeatedly, I finally found this interesting line in a T-Mobile Support chat thread: Simple Choice No Credit Check accounts are restricted from receiving premium services and short codes.
So, I call T-Mobile again, this time responding to "There's no text message block on your account, sir" By saying: "I just found out that T-Mobile is blocking SMS Short Codes, and because of that I can't log into my Dropbox account. I need you to clear the Short Code block."
At that point I reached a service tech who fixed the problem in two minutes.
Why T-Mobile blocks Short Codes from Simple Choice No Contract customers is a question no one at T-Mobile could answer. They will enable it if you ask, but only if you ask the EXACT RIGHT QUESTION.
TL:DR T-Mobile blocks Short Code messages for Simple Choice No Contract customers, but only their 2nd level tech support seems to know this. To fix this, call T-Mobile, tell them that some service is sending you a PIN via Short Code and ask T-Mobile to un-block Short Codes.
Top answer 1 of 5
36
They do it to prevent you from being charged for premium text messages, which, I guess, must still be a thing.
2 of 5
18
FYI for anyone else using Dropbox, they do allow you to use 2 factor authorization thru the Google Authenticator app. You do not HAVE to do it through text messages.
T-Mobile
t-mobile.com › support › plans-features › self-service-short-codes
Self-service & short codes | T-Mobile Support
Other codes used by T-Mobile include 500, 889, 909, 1003, 1167, 1511, 2903, 2957, 3340, 3700-4299, 5116, 5125, 5126, 5127, 5128, 5129, 6245, 6400, 6772, 7726, 8040, 8900, 9701-9901, 25107, 611611, and 444442000 - 444442999.
short codes being blocked - Apple Community
Blocked again. Still able to text me. So frustrating. number is : [Personal Information Edited by Moderator] 536 3 · SMS codes My iphone 12 won't let me receive sms code. How can i fix this 216 1 ... I have the same issues. T-Mobile directed me to apple to try and get the issue fixed. More on discussions.apple.com
Aargh! Finally solved T-Mobile blocking of SMS Short Codes
They do it to prevent you from being charged for premium text messages, which, I guess, must still be a thing. More on reddit.com
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February 16, 2019Does T-Mobile block texts that contain verification codes from online banking sites?
Not, that I have noticed. I get them from my bank all the time which is reliant bank. I have also gotten them from the 2 step verification on one drive, from Chase, Capitalone, and Barclay. I also get short codes messages from Papa Johns, and other sites as well. You might want to check your phones messaging options, and make sure its not blocking them. I now a couple that had the option to block them if needed, but have never needed too. More on reddit.com
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7
April 25, 2015Does t-mobile block text messages with short links?
Some links I try to send to people also get blocked and don't actually send. T-Mobile definitely is blocking them for some reason. And no, no blocks on my account. More on reddit.com
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