If your phone suddenly filled up with missed call text messages today, you are not alone. Telstra customers across the country received a batch of delayed missed-call and voicemail notifications all at once on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, after a fault in the company’s MessageBank service. Here is what happened, what those messages actually mean, and what you should do about them.
Quick Answer
Telstra says the flood of messages was caused by an issue with its MessageBank service earlier today, and that the problem has now been fixed. The delayed missed-call and voicemail notifications were released together once the service recovered, which is why so many arrived at the same time. Telstra says the disruption did not affect triple-0 calls, voice calls or mobile data, and there is no evidence the company was hacked, despite rumours circulating on social media. If you received the messages, you generally do not need to do anything — but it is worth checking your voicemail in case a genuine message arrived with the batch. You can find Telstra’s official support pages at telstra.com.au.
What Happened Today
Telstra confirmed the issue in a statement posted to X on Wednesday afternoon. The company said it was aware that some customers were receiving a number of delayed missed-call and voicemail notifications arriving all at once, and that the cause was an issue with its MessageBank service earlier in the day. Telstra said the problem had been resolved by 5.45pm AWST on Wednesday and apologised for the confusion.
The key point is that these were delayed notifications, not new calls. A missed-call text that arrived today may relate to a call from hours earlier that the network failed to notify you about at the time. That explains why some customers saw messages from numbers they did not recognise or from people they had already spoken to.
Was Telstra Hacked?
No evidence has emerged that this was a cyber attack. As customers searched for an explanation, unverified claims that Telstra had been hacked spread on social media. Telstra’s own explanation points to a technical fault in MessageBank, not a security breach. Treat any message claiming to be from Telstra about this incident with caution — scammers often move quickly after a well-publicised outage, and Telstra itself warns customers to be wary of unsolicited callers claiming to be from the company.
What Is a Telstra Missed Call Text Message?
There are a few different messages Telstra customers can receive, and it helps to know which one you got:
- Your phone’s missed call log. This is generated by your handset itself when a call rings and you do not answer. It appears in your recent calls list even with no network service involved.
- A MessageBank hang-up message. When a caller reaches your MessageBank greeting but hangs up without leaving a message, MessageBank can send you an SMS with the caller’s number (unless the number was blocked). This is the “You missed a call” style text many Telstra customers receive.
- A MessageBank voicemail notification. When someone does leave a message, you are notified that a voicemail is waiting. You can listen to it by dialling 101 from your Telstra mobile.
- A Message2Txt message. If you do not use MessageBank, a short voice message from a caller can instead be converted to text and sent to you as an SMS.
Today’s flood was a mix of the MessageBank notifications above, held up by the fault and then delivered together.
What You Should Do Now
First, do not panic and do not rush to call every number back. Work through the batch calmly:
- Check your voicemail. Dial 101 from your Telstra mobile and listen to any messages. A genuine message from a family member, doctor or employer may be sitting among the delayed alerts.
- Match numbers to your recent calls. If a number matches someone you have already spoken to today, the alert is almost certainly one of the delayed ones and can be ignored.
- Do not call back unknown numbers blindly. If you do not recognise a number, check it first. Be especially careful with numbers starting with 190 — these are premium-rate services and calling them can be expensive. The same applies to unexpected international numbers.
- Delete suspicious texts. If a message asks you to reply, click a link or call a number to claim a prize or fix a problem, delete it. Telstra will not ask you to do those things by text.
- Watch for follow-up scams. Fraudsters often pose as telco staff after an outage. Never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your devices or hand over account details.
How to Stop or Manage Missed Call Texts
If you find these messages annoying, you have options — but note that the missed-call SMS is tied to MessageBank, so changing it affects your voicemail too:
- Turn off hang-up notifications. Dial 101 and follow the prompts for mailbox settings, where you can change whether you are notified about hang-up messages.
- Cancel call diverts. Dialling ##002# from your Telstra mobile cancels all call forwarding, including diversion to MessageBank. Be aware that this may switch you to Message2Txt instead, where callers leave a short message that arrives as a text.
- Turn off MessageBank entirely. For Upfront plans this can be managed in the My Telstra app; on other plans you will need to contact Telstra support and ask them to disable it. Once MessageBank is off, unanswered calls will simply ring out.
- Extend your ring time. If calls keep going to voicemail before you can answer, you can change how long your phone rings before diverting — for example, dialling **61*101**30# sets a 30-second ring time before diversion to MessageBank.
Before making any of these changes, listen to any saved voicemails first, so you do not lose a message you actually need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did I get so many missed call texts at once?
A fault in Telstra’s MessageBank service delayed the notifications. When the service recovered, the backlog was delivered together, so hours’ worth of alerts arrived in one burst.
Do I need to do anything about today’s messages?
For most people, no. Check your voicemail on 101 for any genuine messages, ignore duplicates from people you have already spoken to, and do not call back numbers you do not recognise.
Was my phone hacked?
There is no evidence of a hack. Telstra attributes the incident to a MessageBank technical fault, and says voice calls, mobile data and triple-0 services were not affected.
Will I be charged for the missed call texts?
No. Receiving these notifications is part of the service. Charges only become a risk if you call back a premium-rate or unknown international number.
How do I check my Telstra voicemail?
Dial 101 from your Telstra mobile and follow the prompts. From another phone, call 1800 135 102 and enter your mobile number when prompted.
