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A serious bug in iOS is allowing pranksters to Crash other people’s iPhones simply by sending them a text message. Users who receive the message can find themselves locked out of their Messages app or have their phone switched off automatically when receiving the text. The message, which comprises a specific string of symbols and Arabic symbols, first came to light on Reddit at the end of May. Users who received the message saw their iPhones crash instantly. Once the phone had rebooted, the Messages app would also crash if users tried to open it.

 The Verge and Mac Rumours. Twitter was also awash with users complaining they had been sent the offending message. The malicious message is reportedly effective when sent from Android and Windows Phone handsets, as well as other iPhones. Senders of the message can unlock the victim’s handset by sending them another text message, but that relies on the goodwill of the sender. Sending yourself a text message from another device or telling Siri to ‘send a message to myself’ may also clear the bug.

Reports suggest victims can also cancel out the malicious message by replying to the offending text via the iMessage service on Macs, but that only works if the message was sent via iMessage in the first place. Not every iPhone user will have access to a Mac, either.

A simpler workaround is to go into Settings from the Home screen, tap Notifications, Messages and toggle Show on Lock Screen to Off. Speaking to iMore, Apple confirmed that it is aware of the bug caused by these Unicode characters and is working on a fix that will be made available in a software update.