So to answer the question, “Can someone hack my phone by texting me?” No, your phone cannot be hacked by anyone just by receiving or opening the message. If you further follow the instructions of the text and click on the malicious link, then hacking might happen.
Android phones can get infected by merely receiving a picture via text message, according to research published Monday. This is likely the biggest smartphone flaw ever discovered. It affects an estimated 950 million phones worldwide -- about 95% of the Androids in use today.
Scam artists know this and sometimes target consumers with “phishing” scams via text message or SMS (short message service). Text message or SMS phishing—also called “smishing”—occurs when scam artists use deceptive text messages to lure consumers into providing their personal or financial information.
If you're thinking your iPhone is protected from potential hacks then you're wrong. Even a simple message received on the iPhone could be enough to get your device hacked. Recently, the iPhone text message hack has surfaced online, making users cautious about their devices' safety.
Simply opening and reading an SMS text message is unlikely to infect your phone, but you can get a virus or malware if you download an infected attachment or click a link to a compromised website. SMS phishing attacks — known as smishing — use this technique.
Clicking on a link from a spam text could take you to a fake website explicitly set up to steal your money or personal information. In some cases, the website could infect your phone with malware, which may spy on you and slow down your phone's performance by taking up space on your phone's memory.
Spam Text Messages and Phishing
Scammers send fake text messages to trick you into giving them your personal information — things like your password, account number, or Social Security number. If they get that information, they could gain access to your email, bank, or other accounts.
THE ANSWER
Yes, some scammers are posing as people who have texted the wrong number. Experts recommend you don't respond to texts from strangers — if nothing else, a scammer will know your phone number is active when you reply.
BBB said these scammers potentially have technology to steal your phone contacts and continue to scam your friends too, so avoid even opening up the unknown text.
With their GPS radios and constant data connection, smartphones are technically capable of tracking our location and monitoring our activity, which is enough to raise privacy concerns among users. Few people know, however, that phones can be tracked using little more than a text message.
Your best step is to block the text sender—don't click any links! —and report the spam. Then, delete the text from your phone. Silence is always the best policy.
The spam messages we get on our phones via text message or email will often contain links to viruses, which are a type of malicious software (malware). There's a decent chance that at some point you've installed malware that infected your phone and worked (without you noticing) in the background.
If you receive any unwanted email, the best approach in almost every case is to delete it immediately. It is often clear from the Subject line that a message is junk, so you may not even need to open the message to read it. Some such messages invite you to reply if you want to be removed from their list.
Note: Reporting junk or spam doesn't prevent the sender from sending messages, but you can block the number to stop receiving them. If you don't see the option to report spam or junk messages you receive with SMS or MMS, contact your carrier.
Will resetting my phone remove hackers? Resetting your phone will remove all files from your phone's internal storage, which should remove the hacker if they're using malware to control your device.
On top of that, popular app developers aren't immune to accusations of watching you through your phone's camera. Generally, however, a stalker would need to install spyware on your device in order to compromise it. Hackers can gain access to your phone physically, through apps, media files, and even emojis.
Can a hacker access my computer camera, microphone, and screen? Yes. Cybercriminals use malware like spyware to remotely access and control your camera, microphone, and screen.