Ironcorona

Q: Unauthorised SMS when Upgrading to iOS 5

Hi,

 

I've recently upgraded my 3Gs to iOS5 and I found out that during the setup Facetime/iMessage sends an sms to this Apple UK number: 00447786205094, in order to register. 

 

There is no option not to send this sms and it happens quietly in the background; the only reason I noticed is because of the international SMS (I'm in Ireland, so an SMS to the UK is charged at international text rates).

 

I wonder if anyone knows how to prevent the message being sent in the first place, either my blocking this this number on the phone or by setting an option not to register for Facetime/iMessage.

 

If anyone's interested here's the link to the customer care message boards ( http://forums.meteor.ie/index.php?showtopic=2545 ) on my mobile operator's site where I originally raised the issue.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

iPhone 3GS, iOS 5

Posted on Oct 18, 2011 6:50 AM

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Q: Unauthorised SMS when Upgrading to iOS 5

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  • by PanosLadas,

    PanosLadas PanosLadas Feb 27, 2012 5:40 AM in response to EdiMC
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 27, 2012 5:40 AM in response to EdiMC

    The reason is very simple:

     

    You have your apple account set up in a different country (i.e. you live in USA and your apple account is setup for UK and that's why you see the UK app store and not the French or the American one). If this is the case then you need to change your settings for the apple account into pointing the country in which you actually live in.

     

    (your mobile transmits an sms to a "local" (according to you account) number without charge but as your account is set for a different country, the sms is not local and it is international).

     

    It comes to my surprise that no telecoms carrier seem to have knowledge of this issue and apple support team doesn't guide people accordingly.

  • by kennethmac2000,

    kennethmac2000 kennethmac2000 Feb 28, 2012 8:32 AM in response to PanosLadas
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 28, 2012 8:32 AM in response to PanosLadas

    That explanation doesn't make sense. iMessage does not require an Apple ID to be activated/used. (You only need to use an Apple ID if you want to use it with e-mail addresses.) Therefore, Apple doesn't necessarily know what country your Apple ID's iTunes Store/App Store account is linked to.

  • by PanosLadas,

    PanosLadas PanosLadas Feb 28, 2012 11:11 AM in response to kennethmac2000
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 28, 2012 11:11 AM in response to kennethmac2000

    The explanation that I gave you is what worked for me.

     

    Do you have the problem? If so, do you have apple accounts for a different country than the one that you live in? Did you try to change this?

     

    Apple does know what country your ID is linked to and this is what they choose to use in order to direct the activation sms.

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Feb 28, 2012 11:20 AM in response to kennethmac2000
    Level 7 (24,076 points)
    Feb 28, 2012 11:20 AM in response to kennethmac2000

    kennethmac2000 wrote:

     

    That explanation doesn't make sense. iMessage does not require an Apple ID to be activated/used. (You only need to use an Apple ID if you want to use it with e-mail addresses.) Therefore, Apple doesn't necessarily know what country your Apple ID's iTunes Store/App Store account is linked to.

    Actually, an AppleID is required to use iMessage.  Your AppleID is used to set up the primary iMessage account ID - no AppleID, no iMessage account.  You do not have to use your AppleID as a delivery address, but it is your iMessage primary account ID, regardless of what other aliases you actually use with iMessage.

  • by kennethmac2000,

    kennethmac2000 kennethmac2000 Feb 28, 2012 12:06 PM in response to Michael Black
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 28, 2012 12:06 PM in response to Michael Black

    This is simply untrue. iMessage works out of the box based on nothing more than your phone number. Use of Apple ID is optional.

     

    Were it not this way, there would far fewer people with iMessage active.

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Feb 28, 2012 12:22 PM in response to kennethmac2000
    Level 7 (24,076 points)
    Feb 28, 2012 12:22 PM in response to kennethmac2000

    How do you set it up in the first place without an AppleID?  On my iPhone, when I upgraded to iOS 5 I did not see any way to set it up without entering an AppleID?  How did you get it to work without entering an AppleID during the setup?

  • by kennethmac2000,

    kennethmac2000 kennethmac2000 Feb 28, 2012 3:13 PM in response to Michael Black
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 28, 2012 3:13 PM in response to Michael Black

    You go into Settings -> Messages and flick the iMessage switch to on, and it's on.

     

    There's not much point arguing about this though. The original allegation here is that the people from all over the world who are seeing SMSs to a UK number on their bill have UK App Store accounts.

     

    Were that to be the case, then logically we would also see complaints about the same problem from people with Spanish App Store accounts seeing strange SMSs on their bills to Spanish numbers, people with German App Store accounts seeing SMSs to German numbers, and so on. We haven't. Why is this? Because Spaniards and Germans never leave their own country and never use unofficial carriers? Highly doubtful.

  • by EdiMC,

    EdiMC EdiMC Feb 28, 2012 7:05 PM in response to kennethmac2000
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 28, 2012 7:05 PM in response to kennethmac2000

    I have my Apple account set to Portugal and these messages are sent to a UK number...

  • by Ironcorona,

    Ironcorona Ironcorona Feb 28, 2012 11:45 PM in response to EdiMC
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 28, 2012 11:45 PM in response to EdiMC

    There seems to be only two centres.  One in the US and one in the UK.  Where your setup message gets sent is set in the messages preferences:  settings > messages > receive at > apple ID > change location.

     

    The supported networks are supposed to have an agreement that they'll pass your sms through to the UK centre (for non North American users) without charge but that's not being implemented.

  • by kennethmac2000,

    kennethmac2000 kennethmac2000 Feb 29, 2012 12:27 AM in response to Ironcorona
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 29, 2012 12:27 AM in response to Ironcorona

    But it is not actually necessary to be logged in with any Apple ID for iMessage to work.

     

    Now we've had a couple of theories...

    - It depends on the location of the App Store account connected to the logged-in Apple ID

    - It depends on the location that is set in iMessage settings (for those logged in with an Apple ID)

     

    It can't be both of those - or, at least, if it is both, there must be an order of precedence between them.

     

    And this doesn't account for those using iMessage only with a phone number and not logged in with any Apple ID.

  • by Ironcorona,

    Ironcorona Ironcorona Feb 29, 2012 12:42 AM in response to kennethmac2000
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 29, 2012 12:42 AM in response to kennethmac2000

    When you set up the device do you not need to sign in to something?

  • by kennethmac2000,

    kennethmac2000 kennethmac2000 Feb 29, 2012 12:51 AM in response to Ironcorona
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 29, 2012 12:51 AM in response to Ironcorona

    Are you referring to the iOS 5 setup wizard? You can skip any of the screens that ask for an Apple ID.

  • by Ironcorona,

    Ironcorona Ironcorona Feb 29, 2012 1:01 AM in response to kennethmac2000
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 29, 2012 1:01 AM in response to kennethmac2000

    Yes. Ok, just making sure. If you have an iPad or an iPod Touch it won't (can't) send an SMS. I'd say the rule is something like; where it's possible to send an SMS it should be sent otherwise use apple ID then device ID in order of preference.

  • by kennethmac2000,

    kennethmac2000 kennethmac2000 Feb 29, 2012 3:11 AM in response to Ironcorona
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 29, 2012 3:11 AM in response to Ironcorona

    Yes, sending an SMS is not a relevant issue for iPad or iPod touch devices since these devices do not support sending or receiving iMessages from/to a phone number.

     

    I don't really understand what is meant here though...

     

    "where it's possible to send an SMS it should be sent otherwise use apple ID then device ID in order of preference"

     

    What are we talking about here now? This whole thread was about the activation SMSs that iPhones send when activating iMessage, not about sending iMessages in general.

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Feb 29, 2012 6:54 AM in response to kennethmac2000
    Level 7 (24,076 points)
    Feb 29, 2012 6:54 AM in response to kennethmac2000

    kennethmac2000 wrote:

     

    But it is not actually necessary to be logged in with any Apple ID for iMessage to work.

     

    You do not need an AppleID once you have registered your iMessage aaccount on an iPhone, true.  But the initial validation when you first ever try to use iMessage has to be able to associate the phone number with a valid AppleID.  After that point, yes, you can log out with your AppleID and iMessage will continue to work as that phone number is now associated with a valid iMessage account whose primary account ID is an AppleID.

     

    Dance around the workings of a validated iMessage set up all you want, but iMessage will never activate in the first place without a valid AppleID.

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2755

     

    Reality is that your iMessage account primary ID is an AppleID - anything else you link to that account (phone number, emails) are merely aliases.  You do not need to use the primary account ID on an iPhone once your iMessage account is validated, but you do need it to set up iMessage in the first place, and after that the AppleID is always tied to the iMessage account, whether being used as an active messaging ID or not.

     

    Again, there is no working iMessage without a valid AppleID as the primary account ID.  On an iPhone, yes, you can use it, ONCE activated, with nothing more then the phone number, but the iMessage account you are using is associated with the AppleID used for initial validation.

     

    it is simply false imformation to say an iPhone user can use iMessage without having an AppleID, as without an AppleID they will never be able to activate iMessage in the first place.

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