OTP issues with SMS and Email based OTP timeouts

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openmedia

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#324113 2-Mar-2026 10:05

Is anyone seeing an increased amount of issues getting OTP emails or SMS messages from services.

I'm trying to reactivate an old twitter/X account and the the email OTP typically takes close to an hour to arrive by which time it is worthless.

Also a lot of the overseas airlines often use OTP to confirm login and they appear to be ending up in /dev/null

Are there any services where you're also seeing these issues?

PS.. Yes I've checked my SPAM folders etc.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

Dynamic

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#3465910 2-Mar-2026 10:20

A client had this issue 2 weeks ago when trying to log into an offshore banking system. There was a 10 minute timeout and the OTP codes were taking 20-30 minutes to arrive in his M365 Inbox.

I believe the issue self-resolved overnight.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

rugrat

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#3465946 2-Mar-2026 13:31

Not as bad as your one, but the coca-Cola vending machines take a minute to a minute and half for the OTP text message to come in.

And I’m standing by the machine wondering what happens if someone else tries to purchase while waiting for codes to arrive. After 3 minutes code is invalid.

Have stay logged in ticked, but it never does. Think it’s Australia based where the code would be generated.

Work OTP code came in almost instantly for logging into work computer so looks like further up the chain from NZ phone carrier as it’s not all OTP’s.

If I try to get code by email for vending machine it then wants to set up entire new account even though same email used on phone number account.

KiwiSurfer

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#3465955 2-Mar-2026 14:39

Seems to be par for the course I've experienced both delays and even not turning up at all. This has happened to both email and SMS flows in my expeirence. Haven't really seen an uptick recently, it's always been an issue really.

I normally just try again -- quite often the second goes through no problem -- sometimes even arriving instantly the second time round then I get the original some minutes/hours/etc later. I do have a theory that some companies use two SMS providers. Sometimes I see different origin numbers for the OTP messages from the same company. So perhaps pressing "send again" triggers a secondary flow where they attempt sending via an alternate route? In any case it's worth a try.

I also try the alternate delviery method too. I normally do Whatsapp > SMS > Email if supported. Whatsapp (if offered) I've found most reliable.

richms

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#3465960 2-Mar-2026 14:58

I have had to do some email codes for X recently and they were all in my gmail inbox by the time I swapped tabs to it.

Richard rich.ms