Bug in IOS 27. Russian Spying?

Russia’s country calling code is +7, not +71. Kazakhstan also uses +7. The United States uses +1. A number merely beginning with the digit 7 is not enough to identify an international destination. The complete number and its formatting matter. Even an actual +7 recipient would not, by itself, establish that the Russian government was involved or that anyone had received or read the message.

Taking your account at face value, the important observation is that an unfamiliar number appears when messages are handled through the Chevrolet system. What remains unclear is whether that number appears as an actual recipient in the iPhone’s Messages conversation, or only on the vehicle display. Whether a message was transmitted to that number, rather than merely displayed as though it would be. Whether the fault originates in iOS, GM’s software, or their interaction.

Chevrolet documents that its Bluetooth pairing process can give the infotainment system access to phone contacts and messages, and its iPhone instructions include “Show Notifications” and “Sync Contacts.” That makes the phone to vehicle integration relevant, but it doesn’t identify which side is mishandling the information. 

An update preceding the problem is a useful diagnostic clue not proof that Apple alone caused it. Likewise, the reported GM representative’s statement is not equivalent to a published engineering diagnosis. I did not find public confirmation of this exact iOS 27.0.1/Bolt issue in the sources I checked including Google search and social media platforms such as Reddit, Facebook and Instagram. 

So, let’s start fixing the issue. Unpair the devices and re-pair them following the instructions in the GM owner’s manual. What happens? 

Hello all. Apple updated iOS 27 to iOS 27.2 on October 26, 2026. This has resolved the problem of the phantom telephone number showing up in my ‘27 Chevy Bolt app. GM was correct; it was an Apple bug issue. Thanks all.

Hello, I did the pair/unpair/pair idea but it did not work. Apple released iOS 27.2 yesterday and the problem is gone. GM was correct when it said it was an Apple software bug issue. All better now. Thank you.

If you think Apple needs to update something, tell them. This is a user to user only forum and Apple isn't here. You can provide feedback here --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Yes, it sounds like passing the buck but the issue didn’t appear until I upgraded my phone to ios27. It takes my number, puts a 7 in front of it. The country code for the USA is 1, for Russia it is 71. So, if I respond via the car and not directly on the phone, a copy of the message is sent to the Russia country code. My friend and I tested it several times. It is not limited to my one friend; all incoming text messages are showing it. I no longer reply to text messages via the car; only on the phone. It’s pretty weird. GM had one only reported case right after ios27 came out. I wonder if others have noticed this. Anyone?

Hello and thank you for reviewing my notes. The number showing on the car, the Chevy Bolt (and according to the rep I talked to at GM, the other car was a Cadillac) is 71 followed by area code and seven digit telephone number. A world area code map shows this to be Russia (7) and the 1 is specifically Russia, not Kazakhstan which would either be 70 or 76 or 77. Previously 7 was assigned to the whole Soviet Union. The message in the car first shows the person texting me, followed by a comma, then the bogus number. If I reply via the car, the bogus number will get the message, if it actually exists in Russia, and will show up on my phone as sent from me and the person who received the message will begin to get the bogus number on their phone from the message sent from the car. If I do not use the car, only the phone, to respond to the text messages, the bogus number does not show up in either sent messages or to the person I am replying to.

To repeat, this issue only began when I installed iOS 27 on the phone. I have had the car about a month and a half and had no problems with it. First I tried rebooting the telephone. Next the car. I have yet to try to unpair then re-pair the phone. I’ll try that next. Thanks for the suggestion. I am still curious if anyone else is having this issue. As far as I can tell, it seems to be limited to GM cars.

I’ll post again when I get the unpairing and then re-pairing done. Thank you.

That’s called “passing the buck”.

Can you explain how you are seeing this text? Is it an incoming text? Is this extra phone number in your contacts?

How long is the number?

Thanks for the information. Just putting it out here to see if others are noticing too.