Problems with AT&T and Bank SMSs After Visit to Thailand

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Our daughter visited for a few weeks recently. While here, she was able to use her iPhone with the AT&T SIM by enabling wifi calling. She also swapped out the AT&T SIM and used a Thai SIM for a while. She did not have international roaming on her AT&T account.

 

Upon returning to the US and putting the AT&T SIM card back into her phone she is able to use the phone normally except she is not receiving any bank verification SMS messages. She was receiving them prior to her trip to Thailand. She has gone to an AT&T shop and asked them to help, but they were not able to fix this.

 

I know that there have been issues receiving bank verification SMS messages when in Thailand, but has anyone encountered issues receiving them in the US after a visit here?

[mania]

1 hour ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

I know that there have been issues receiving bank verification SMS messages when in Thailand, but has anyone encountered issues receiving them in the US after a visit here?

No & I do the same as your daughter

Meaning use my AT&T sim in Thailand on WiFi calling. Works great

 

But yes no problems when back home I still receive my US banking notifications as usual

 

We also do the opposite with my wife's TrueMove H sim & use it here in the USA on WiFi calling & it is able to get OTP sms from Thai banks which makes it a great tool

 

[bamnutsak]

Can she send/receive SMSes to/from other numbers?

 

Which banks? What do they say?

 

She turned OFF WiFi calling?

 

Seems weird. 

 

 

 

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

1 hour ago, bamnutsak said:

Can she send/receive SMSes to/from other numbers?

 

Which banks? What do they say?

 

She turned OFF WiFi calling?

 

Seems weird. 

 

 

 

 

Yes, she's able to send and receive SMS messages to and from other parties. It is only the bank's verification SMS messages that aren't being received. Her account is with Bank of America. She has turned off wifi calling as well. She went to an Apple store after AT&T suggested the problem was her phone. I think the issue is with AT&T and she's going to go back to one of their outlets and try again.

[bamnutsak]

Can she receive OTP SMSes from other services?

 

She is using the BofA mobile app? And she has 2FA turned on? She has the number registered with BofA? Within the app you are prompted to receive an OTP SMS and you have to confirm the number on file (you can have more than one - I have three) with a radio button selection.

 

This is a weird problem, one I can't really figure it out. Having been in Thailand should not resulted in this issue. Assuming the number is correct, AT&T may not be accepting the Short Code SMSes from BofA's bulk provider. Or there is configuration issue with the iPhone. Maybe it has a Spam SMS feature? My Google Pixel 6 has a "Spam & Blocked" SMS folder (Messages, Junk, Filter). So maybe it's getting routed there? It's probably something simple, I'd do a broader search for potential fixes. Example: https://forums.att.com/conversations/apple/short-code-6digit-sms-text-suddenly-stopped-arriving-on-iphone-xr/634ecdd226d943751235295a

 

FWIW I use Google Voice for BofA OTP SMSes, works fine everywhere in the world.

 

 

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

1 hour ago, bamnutsak said:

Can she receive OTP SMSes from other services?

 

She is using the BofA mobile app? And she has 2FA turned on? She has the number registered with BofA? Within the app you are prompted to receive an OTP SMS and you have to confirm the number on file (you can have more than one - I have three) with a radio button selection.

 

This is a weird problem, one I can't really figure it out. Having been in Thailand should not resulted in this issue. Assuming the number is correct, AT&T may not be accepting the Short Code SMSes from BofA's bulk provider. Or there is configuration issue with the iPhone. Maybe it has a Spam SMS feature? My Google Pixel 6 has a "Spam & Blocked" SMS folder (Messages, Junk, Filter). So maybe it's getting routed there? It's probably something simple, I'd do a broader search for potential fixes. Example: https://forums.att.com/conversations/apple/short-code-6digit-sms-text-suddenly-stopped-arriving-on-iphone-xr/634ecdd226d943751235295a

 

FWIW I use Google Voice for BofA OTP SMSes, works fine everywhere in the world.

 

 

 

No, she's unable to receive any 2FA messages. She had no issues prior to coming to Thailand in May. Upon returning to the US, she has been unable to receive any OTP/2FA messages from BoA or other accounts such as social media and the like. Normal SMS messages aren't a problem.

 

While she was here, she used wifi calling and later a Thai SIM. She has turned off wifi calling and put the AT&T SIM back in her phone, but still no verification SMS messages can be received. She's been to an AT&T store in the US and has also subsequently been to an Apple store after AT&T suggested it might be a hardware issue. Apple did a hardware analysis and did not find anything amiss. Neither Apple nor AT&T can figure this one out.

 

BofA claims that the OTPs are being sent, but I'm not sure if the BofA people would be able to determine if security software had blocked the message at a later stage in the transmission process. I'm not an expert in this area, so I really don't know.

 

She tried calling the AT&T fraud department, but they won't help her because she has a pre-paid account with no address on file. She's now going to change over to a post-paid account and then port her number to Mint. I'm not sure whether this will fix the issue or just add a couple more layers of complexity. She's in the midst of getting set up in a new job in New York City and getting an apartment and all the things associated with being a new graduate just starting out, so this is an aggravation that she really does not need.

 

 

 

[bamnutsak]

I'd just port the AT&T prepaid account to Mint (prepaid or PAYG). Switching to AT&T postpaid will just lengthen the process, and complicate it.

 

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

22 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

I'd just port the AT&T prepaid account to Mint (prepaid or PAYG). Switching to AT&T postpaid will just lengthen the process, and complicate it.

 

 

Apparently there's an issue doing that. Not sure what it is, but I think it may have something to do with her address not being on file on the pre-paid account.

[GinBoy2]

I'd suggest just have her drop into the local AT&T store and let them figure it out for her

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

16 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

I'd suggest just have her drop into the local AT&T store and let them figure it out for her

She tried that and spent quite some time at an AT&T store with their customer service people. No joy.

 

As far as we can determine, AT&T wouldn't release her number because it was a pre-paid account with no address on file, but we're not really sure.  She ended up cancelling the AT&T number and getting a new one with Spectrum along with an internet account for her apartment.

 

Now I just need to make sure that AT&T stops charging my debit card.