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Every time I start up my HTC One X I get a notification of a new text message. That text message is blank and is 'from' a string of gobbledygook.

Here is a screen-shot of the message:-

Screen-shot of phantom text message

Note that the From is an upside-down exclamation mark and those other two strange characters. This is always the same. I do not believe it is a function of the Go SMS program in use as it also appears in other messaging programs.

Any ideas on how to stop this admittedly minor annoyance?

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corrupted contacts database? spanish style exclamation mark (upside down)... Has Go SMS messed up somewhere? What happens when you tap on the message? more details please :) – t0mm13b Sep 19 '12 at 15:03
What you see above is what happens when I tap on the message from the main message list. the message itself is empty ( the blue section in the bottom left would usually contain the message text) – Rob Sep 19 '12 at 15:33
When I long press on that blue section and select Message Details I get a pop-up box saying just Type: Text message. From: (Same set of weird characters) Received: 7:10, 28th August – Rob Sep 19 '12 at 15:34

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

Some troubleshooting suggestions:

  • Does the SMS only show up in GO, or does it also show up in the stock "Messaging" app? If it only shows up in GO, we know it's an issue with that app. If not, an actual sms is being received by your phone.
  • If it's a GO problem, try clearing the GO app cache completely. If the issue still persists, explore if it might be contact related as someone else suggested. If you sync your contacts with Google, temporarily un-sync them so they go away and reboot. Do you still get an sms?
  • If you're actually getting an SMS (feels unlikely) you might want to contact your carrier just in case, they will probably be able to submit an error report so that someone can look into it.

Please supply more info on how your problem develops and I'll try to expand my answer.

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It appears in other SMS programs also, the stock messaging app and Handcent. – Rob Sep 20 '12 at 9:49
Can you try with a different SIM card? – bigbadonk420 Sep 21 '12 at 11:06
Unfortunately I don't have access to an alternate SIM. Saying that though, the last few times I've restarted the phone the phantom text hasn't returned... – Rob Sep 25 '12 at 8:32
Factory resetting your phone should be the classic first thing to try here, to eliminate software problems. It's most likely your GO app or some other software related issue doing this, but you'll know for sure after an FR. – bigbadonk420 Sep 25 '12 at 11:52
The only problem there is that I /really/ don't want to restore my phone! – Rob Sep 26 '12 at 9:16
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