Text received but but sent by sender

[Not_Nick]

I received 2 texts this morning. Both were downloads over 1kB. It didn't seem strange because they were from my wife. They wouldn't download though, so I told her I couldn't open them. The weird thing is, she did not send them! 

Anyone know what's happening here?

We are both on Public Mobile.

Both Android devices.

[Not_Nick]

Yes. Of course I agree with the principle of this. But that's not what's happening here.

[eddieO]

@Not_Nick I'm definitely not suggesting reaching out to senders for every message, only for messages that contain attachments or links. To do it in a secure fashion you would either need to call them or send them a message using a different app perhaps since the method you received it in could be compromised. Receiving a text message is one thing, should be no harm but it's the links and attachments that we need to watch out for

[Not_Nick]

Facebook accounts get hacked all the time. This is an SMS/MMS text.

[Not_Nick]

Yes it's possible, but those require that the users phones have been compromised. In this case, it is incredibly unlikely that both devices have been compromised in one of these ways. 

Further, one of these senders devices (and they're partner who is also a part of the same group text) nearly always send double texts. We will receive a text from them and later receive another one. It seems like this time, the system had a problem figuring out what to do with the photos. 

Also, in reply to your earlier message, are you seriously suggesting that I confirm with three sender of every message that they have actually sent the message? How exactly would I do that in a secure fashion? I can't very well text them to find out if they actually sent it now can I?

[BKNS27]

@Not_Nick 

My friend got hacked on Facebook and all his contacts got a weird email but no text.

[eddieO]

@Not_Nick, found this online on Norton's site....

https://us.norton.com/blog/mobile/sms-spoofing#:~:text=Yes%2C%20someone%20can%20send%20spoofed,by%20...

[Yummy]

If SHE did not send them to you - then it might be a Scam.

To download MMS your Data has to be on. But in this case I would delete those messages.

[Not_Nick]

That sounds like a provider issue to me if that's the case (which I don't think it is here). It should not be possible to send a text to look like it's coming from a different number within my contact list.

[eddieO]

@Not_Nick it sounds like a possible scam, someone masking their number to look like it came from a known contact. Important thing to keep in mind is to never click on any links unless you have confirmed with the sender that they actually sent it to you, and never enter banking info, passwords etc, when clicking on links otherwise you could be opening the door to hackers

[Not_Nick]

Update. It just happened again from another person in my contacts. This person's device often sends double messages and they sent photos to my wife and myself yesterday in a group text. I think this must be the source, but I don't know where the problem exists.