[Android Central Question]

At 11:40 EST I received a text message from #24719 saying:

"Service Msg: Your phone requires a software update. You will receive a notification on your phone. Please click 'Install' to update. It's safe and secure."

It immediately striked me as suspicious and odd, as I don't believe I've ever seen a software update come through a text message like that. A quick Google search was not much help, some sources say it "could be malware", some say it's legit, others say it downloaded automatically and bricked their phone. I would like to know if I should be concerned about the text or not. If the result of this thread is inconclusive, I may result in hard resetting my phone as a precautionary measure to prevent a negative impact if it is in fact malware of some type.

Thank you for your time!

[chanchan05]

What phone do you have? If anything, just ignore any text or notification, and head straight into settings and check for yourself it there is an update.

[Spaghettification]

Happened to my sister's Pixel XL too today. It's July 5th through so there actually was an official security update from Google. I'm confused though because of how suspicious the message sounded and how I've never seen it before.

[ManiacJoe]

Given that the short code seems to be unregistered, it does seem suspicious.

[jameswow]

delete it!

[tktim]

Notice that it's not a phone number. It's a special code 24719. It's saying you will (may) get an update later. When and it you do, click on it to install. I've received this message on many different brands of phones. I've actually got the updates on at least three different brands of phones. All have installed successfully. These updates may not always be the same as the software updates you manually get, using the phones settings menu. The problem with this text message is you may never get the update. Why? Your service provider may not want to pass the update to you for various reasons. Your phone manufacture is sending the message to all phone models ABC.? but yours is ABC.8 The update is only for ABC.1 to 10 except model ABC.8 They have been doing this for years with various special codes one of which is 24719 with almost every brand of phone. They been driving people crazy for years. I've got 16 message over 2 yrs on my current phone, but no update shows up. My settings software menu says there are no updates. There must be a better way.

[Ladymac6]

I've gotten several of these text and immediately checked myself if any update was Available and ZERO UPDATE AVAILABLE! I got another one today...

"Service Msg: Your phone requires one or more software updates. You will receive notifications on your phone. Please click 'Install' to update. It's safe and secure."

[med1typer]

I received a text on my Galaxy J7 Crown phone regarding needing a software update installed. I ignored it but it installed by itself. Nothing seems to be wrong with the phone, but the icons look like they have gone back to the 1970's. Can someone tell me if I need to reset my phone to manufacturer settings or is it a legit update?

[belodion]

It may have been a short code text from your carrier. Check with them.

[nkpfan]

I fell for this one in May. Installed the update and all of a sudden I was getting constant popup ads no matter what I was doing. The only way I could get rid of them was to do a factory reset on the phone. Now my wife got one on her brand new Samsung phone just 3 days after activation. This is a scam!

[belodion]

Threads merged.