Carriers often send out informational text messages to customers informing them of features or benefits they may want to know about. This ranges from free plan perks the customer might not be taking advantage of to advertisements about new phones or plans.
A recent text campaign from T-Mobile about account access, though, has put some customers on edge.
As posted a few times over on Reddit, along with people reaching out directly to us here at The Mobile Report, customers are receiving text messages informing customers that they can “give other users the ability to receive support, make purchases, and upgrade devices”.
These texts begin with a phrase that could be interpreted as an indication an attempt was made to make purchases on an account without authorization. As seen in the screenshot below, the text has caused a bit of a panic.
Given T-Mobile’s long history of unauthorized account access issues, it’s a valid concern. However, it seems there’s nothing to worry about.
Authorized Users VS Limited Access Users
So what is this all about? Well, T-Mobile wants as many of the lines on your account as possible to have full access, and by extension, purchasing power. To do that, these lines need to be set as “Authorized Users”.
By default, every line on an account can create a My T-Mobile login. In fact, most likely do, as it’s required now to access T-Mobile Tuesday benefits in the T-Life app. However, they are set as having limited access by default to ensure they aren’t able to make account changes without permission.
Only the primary line on the account has full access by default. As a result, if a user on a line that isn’t the primary line attempts to visit a store or make a purchase on T-Life, they’ll be turned away as unauthorized. That seems to be the point T-Mobile was trying to make with their confusingly-worded message.
If the primary line holder on the account wants to give other lines the ability to make account-level changes, they can enable them as Authorized Users in the T-Life app or on My T-Mobile.
The Importance Of Wording And Internal Communication
Unfortunately, the wording of the text has caused some people to be concerned. By starting the text with “Other users on your account don’t have permissions for selfservice access”, it gives the impression that an attempt to make changes has already been made by another line on the account.
Even worse, one user, who has had their data breached in the past, told us that they reached out to ask T-Mobile if the text message was legitimate, only to be told by support that it wasn’t. This shows a breakdown in communication between whoever is sending these text notices and support, and is not a good look. The message can be seen below.
To be clear, this was a mass informational texting campaign, and not an indication that anyone was attempting to purchase a device on the account.
Overall, this text messaging campaign, while likely sent with the best of intentions, ended in confusion and anger. The user above said when they received the text, they dropped everything they were doing and went home immediately to address the issue, assuming the worst. That shouldn’t happen.
That being said, if you’re here because you got the text and are worried, don’t be. Despite the poor wording, your account and data is safe, at least in this instance.
