Key Points:
- Google Messages users are reporting receiving indecipherable, gibberish text messages.
- The issue appears linked to a failure in the encryption and decryption process of RCS.
- Messages include a legitimate link to Google’s support page, hinting at a widespread technical bug.
Google Messages users are experiencing a peculiar and troubling issue: an influx of gibberish text messages from unknown senders. These messages consist of random strings of letters and numbers, suggesting they are arriving in an encrypted form but failing to decrypt properly.
The underlying technology, Rich Communication Services (RCS), is intended to provide a more secure and feature-rich texting experience compared to traditional SMS. RCS supports advanced functionalities like media sharing, delivery receipts, and crucially, end-to-end encryption, which ensures that only the sender and recipient can read the messages.
However, a significant bug appears to be disrupting this encryption process. Users are receiving these nonsensical messages from various international sources, including countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Cameroon, and Tanzania. Each message includes a genuine link to a Google support page, indicating steps to take if a message fails to decrypt, which underscores the severity and potential widespread nature of this issue.
Despite a surge in user complaints, many of which have been documented in a revived two-year-old Reddit thread, Google has yet to provide an official explanation or solution. This persistent glitch raises concerns about the reliability of RCS encryption and the overall security of Google Messages.
