What the heck is an RCS message and why do I keep getting messages for someone else?

Hello guys, So, I recently got a new phone and a pre-paid plan with chatr mobile in Canada. Everything was fine until I started getting texts and calls from a different person. It’s kind of weird! My sister even sent me a message through RCS, and when that girl answered, she did it from my number. What is RCS anyway? Why does this girl have my number? I’m really confused and could use some help.

RCS stands for Rich Communication Services. It lets you send texts over data instead of the usual SMS. Sounds like your new number might be a recycled one, which can happen. The previous owner probably didn’t turn off RCS when they stopped using it.

Oh wow, that makes sense! So how do I turn off RCS then? I don’t want to keep getting her messages.

You can fill out a form on Google’s site to disable it. Just enter your number and they’ll help you out!

Yeah, it’s pretty common for carriers to recycle numbers. You might want to contact chatr mobile too, just to make sure everything’s cleared up on their end.

Good idea! I’ll reach out to them. Thanks!

If you go to this link, it has the steps to turn off RCS chats: https://messages.google.com/disable-chat. Just follow the instructions there.

Thanks for the link! I’ll check it out!