Cannot receive Verification Code from Paypal and no one knows why

[JasW]

I have been trying for two days to sign up for a Paypal account already but the verification code would not reach my phone. In the mean time I do get other verification messages from other companies like Microsoft and Interac etc.
Did some research, used the LiveChat on Fido website and asked about enabling "short-code text messaging". Everything seemed fine but still it did not work.
So I called Paypal. They asked me to remove the SIM and restart the phone. Did that. Did not help. Called again. They said their system did send out the verification messages and it is Fido who blocked them.
Soooo, I called Fido again. They told me there is no third-party block or whatsoever on my account and walked me through on how to disable all the blocked numbers and turn off anything that could possibly affect the receipt of text messages from paypal. Nope. Nothing is happening at all and I still do not get their code.
Soooooo I called Paypal for the third time and they did everything they could have done and assured me that their system is working fine and the code has been sent out.

I have been spending like hours and hours on hold waiting for someone who can resolve the issue. Paypal asks me to call Fido and Fido asks me to call paypal. URGGGGHHHH

I am just stranded. and frustrated. seriously....

If anyone knows anything about this please kindly advise what other steps I can take to make it work. I appreciate any reply. Thank you so much for your time and ya all have a very nice weekend ahead.

[buzzrozwell]

There is seemingly zero will by FIDO to fix this issue. Any "moderator" on this forum can't provide any real info because FIDO wants to ignore the issue.

I started a ticket on this 2 days ago and I have heard NOTHING from Fido. Not even a response that a ticket has been started.

If you can't login to Pay Pal because FIDO is blocking your short code texts and you're stuck in the 2 step verification login cycle - even after changing your Pay Pal  password - you need to call Pay Pal and ask them to remove your 2 Step Verification. They won't do this right away for you. I am in a 2 day holding pattern with Pay Pal now on this matter. I have to call them back tomorrow (Friday) and they will let me know then what, if anything, can be done to get 2 Step Verification removed from my login. If I get this sorted out I will then be reviewing my relationship with Fido. I would also encourage people who are also stuck in this situation to escalate this matter as high up in FIDO as possible and to also take it public.  FIDO seemingly fails to see the urgency on this and how important it is for people to have access to their money to run their lives and businesses otherwise they would have had this issue fully addressed back in 2018 but they haven't.  There are zero solutions by FIDO offered on this matter.

[buzzrozwell]

An update,  i just tried my login again on Pay Pal and it worked. Thursday Sept 2 - 11:30am PST

It looks like the block on short codes by Fido has been removed. At least for now ??

I will be turning off 2 Step Verification on Pay Pal now and not risk this happening again.

[ailurusnox]

I'm having literally the same exact issue. For two days now I can't receive any PayPal verification texts. I can receiver other short code texts like Interac, Canada Revenue Agency 2FA, Discord, RBC, the whole thing, but absolutely NOTHING from PayPal. My God Fido, you need to fix this as soon as possible.

[FidoClaudia · Accepted solution]

Hey everyone, 

Thanks a lot for your patience on this. 

We are aware of the situation and are currently working on a resolution as fast as possible, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause! 

If you're still experiencing trouble with the PayPal short codes, please contact us so we can open a ticket with our technical support.

Cheers! 

[buzzrozwell]

Why would this post be marked as "solved" it is not solved. That is a misleading statement. Where is FIDO REALLY at with this?  Another day with no way to login to my business Pay Pal account. Does FIDO fully grasp the magnitude of this issue? Please update us regularly as to what is going on here.

[kira0500]

I have the same issue. Has this been fixed yet? It's been like this since August 27, 2021.

[buzzrozwell]

it has been going on for far longer than that. years.

https://forums.fido.ca/t5/General-Support/Not-receiving-short-code-text/m-p/132114

[buzzrozwell]

this is not a solution. just fix it.

[buzzrozwell]

This is an ongoing issue for years. FIX THIS FIDO. Pay Pal can't do anything about it on their end. People are trying to do the right thing and setup proper security on their accounts but it ends up locking them out because FIDO ends up blocking their legitimate short code texts from Pay Pal. When you call FIDO support they act like this is a new issue, it has been going on for years! FIX IT NOW.

[MK75]

I am having the same issue with my fido phone.

1. Off a call with Paypal support, they checked on their end and things are fine.
2. A friend of mine is receiving receiving OTP codes from Paypal (not on Fido). 
3. I can Can receive OTP texts to my fido phone from other companies (Microsoft, Google, Amazon) but my not receiving Paypal OTP texts. 

This leads me to believe it's a Fido issue.   Is this issue still being looked at at Fido?  Or have any of the users experiencing the same thing been able to solve this?  

MK

[buzzrozwell]

It's on the FIDO side. It has been going on for years.

[Icecube]

We are August 31 2021 and since yesterday, same issue for me. I can,t get the code from Royal Bank of Canada (I have not tried any other services (paypal etc.) Fido: have you solved the issue or is this still ongoing? Any expected date? We need to pay vendors, etc... I called RBC and sent a text to their "short number" to re-register my device and all that, and they tell me that their systems are working and it must be Fido. I tried tuning off WIFI (as seen in other posts) to no avail. Help? Iphone 10, latest IOS. 

[Nickp2]

JasW did you get this issue resolved? I've got exactly the same problem. I'm now in another telephone Q to fido to try and resolve.

[Kikouma]

Hello, 

for the past 2 days, I have been unable to connect to my Paypal due to not receiving the OTP (one-time password)

I have been able to receive OTP's from other companies such as facebook, but unable for Paypal.

I tried calling Fido suppport and they keep redirecting me to Rogers...

When I call Paypal, they tell me the message is succesfully being sent but it currently being blocked by Fido.

Anyone else?

[Original_Lucy]

Hi @Kikouma , that's weird that you are receiving other OTP but not for PayPal. Perhaps the spam filter on your phone is not letting it through. If you know the number it's coming from,  you can check in your messaging app to see if it was automatically blocked by the spam filter. You can check by opening message app and top right are 3 dots, tap on that and you will see something like Spam and blocked messages. If it's in there, you can remove the block. Otherwise, it's a mystery why one and not others don't come through. Perhaps you can ask PayPal the number it's coming from and make a contact for it, to see if that lets it through. 🤞fingers crossed that one of the above suggestions work for you. 

[buzzrozwell]

it is NOT this. it is blocked by Fido. all you have to do is call Fido tech support and they can see that you've had block texts from legitamate 2 Step Varification attempts. It's happening to me with Pay Pal and it appears to be happening to others with additional short code texts. The issue is FIDO's to sort out.

[Kikouma]

Hello,

I have attempted all these suggestions and nothing worked.

I have called both Fido and Paypal and Paypal has confirmed they have been sending the OTP while on the phone with Fido's CS, they told me they didn't know what was going on and went as far as tell me to "try again later" which is... you know not what you'd like to hear from a CS.

In any events, I have seen that multiple people have been having problems with OTP via Fido (you can search Paypal on the forum community)

I am hoping Fido resolves it quickly for everyone's sake 

[Original_Lucy]

Hi again @Kikouma , apparently Fido is aware of the problem and are working on resolution asap. If you read some of the other threads, it's an issue. I just saw it myself, so it's being worked on. Cheers 

[buzzrozwell]

This is an ongoing issue for years. FIX THIS FIDO. Pay Pal can't do anything about it on their end. People are trying to do the right thing and setup proper security on their accounts but it ends up locking them out because FIDO ends up blocking their legitimate short code texts from Pay Pal. When you call FIDO support they act like this is a new issue, it has been going on for years! FIX IT NOW.

[FidoClaudia]

Hey @JasW,

Welcome to the community! 

We are aware of this and are currently working on a resolution as fast as possible, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause! 

Cheers!