maybe a font issue?
I know I have printed a .ps file from Quark, had a 'font may be corrupt' message, but still got a .ps file that Distiller ran (ie., I did not get a message saying the .ps file was corrupt, or a zero kb .ps file)...
the result was a .pdf file but everything was blank... I ended up having to open another copy of the font in my manager, and that solved the problem...
I'm sure that doesn't help with a .pdf you have received, but may be a place to start... perhaps the person sending the .pdf did not realize the .pdf is blank (I know I have done that before, not looked at the .pdf before sending)