Can anyone help- receiving spam messages on my Samsung

[JinglingHellsbells]

I've had this for a while and there is always a pattern to it. I do have anti virus on my phone.

what happens is this- usually 2 days after a message (or two) from a friend (different friends, some with iphones, some not) I receive a text supposedly from them saying they have sent me a video message and here's how I open it. I NEVER do as I know it's not genuine.

They contain links and ask me to use the link then use the password it gives me to open the video message.

So- how is my number being picked up and is the security issue at my end or theirs? Who do I report to- the provider (EE) or Samsung or what?

These are actually genuine. They are sending the messages using apple's "imessage" protocol which isn't supported by Samsung devices, most likely things like pictures.

Legitimate messages would read something like "A Photo/Vdeo message was sent to you but couldn't be delivered. A notification on how to view this message will follow shortly. Your password is : (random text). It is then important that the second text links to "https://ee.mms.ee.co.uk/eeuk" - anything else and it may be a phishing link.

It is very difficult to get a virus on your phone. I would not install an anti virus on your phone unless you can confirm it is from a reputable company, because it could be adware or worse its self. Its a little complex, but the way a phone works means applications cant access personal data without your explicit consent (A popup saying x app wants to access your phone data etc)