Post your mobile number and some Community members might forward theirs to you.
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The phone should really give you that option i.e. if there’s no sending phone number then silently discard the text message. That would be supplementary to any functionality to block a specific sending phone number.
Just what I was thinking. 
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Some of us deliberately choose not to send our caller ID or calling mobile number!
It may be important to consult with friends and family who have made this choice to ensure they can contact you reliably if urgent.
Their right to privacy vs your right to know who is calling?
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That could be accommodated by making the sending of the caller ID conditional i.e. you block it from sending for all calls by default but allow it for friends and family. (Honestly, if you are going to block caller ID when calling friends and family then you get what you deserve.)
Alternatively, the original setting (discard text if no sender ID) could be moved into the network - since the network knows the caller ID, when one exists, even when you block the sending of the caller ID. That would be more efficient anyway, since the network does not waste time delivering a text message only to have it silently discarded by the receiving phone.
That would also open up the possibility of feedback to the spammer. If “everyone” went down the path of discarding text messages with no sender ID and the discard is implemented in the network then the spammer can be told that only 3% of their text messages were delivered and 97% were silently discarded in the network - and then spammers might change their approach.
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My landline gets the most ‘unknown to me ‘ calls, sometimes 3-4 in one day, including some with the international prefix of Burma!
I let those go to message but never get a recording.
My landline is unlisted, shows up as a private number, and it’s on the d.n.c. register. It’s seldom given out, I prefer to give my mobile number if I really have to.
My mobile doesn’t get anywhere near No ID calls as the landline. Again, I don’t pick up unknown numbers, any genuine ones will leave a message or do an email, or a well identified text.
Texts from the bank or my gov will only notify to check my in-box, never to open a link.
Maybe I’ve been lucky with spam texts,
haven’t really had any problems.
The landline has been the biggest nuisance.
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They will be random-dialling so being a silent number is no defence. They will completely disregard the DNC register. The prefix can be anything they like as it is synthetic.
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As the previous two replies suggest, the space of phone numbers is nowhere near large enough for anyone to need to “get” your number. Random dialling or sequential dialling … will still pick up a good number of potential victims.
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ID Care has a Facebook post about this Flubot malware. It affects Android users only.
I received one the other day regarding a missed call but there are other versions including banking apps and parcel tracking.
https://www.facebook.com/IDCAREAUSNZ/
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While Flubot specifically targets android devices, Apple phones are not immune to malware texts. In the past texts to Apple phones have exploited weakness in the OS or had attachments to texts which install malware.
We often receive emails with a voicemail message attached, with the email indicating listening to the attached sent message (with is a self executing compressed file containing malware/ransomware). These target desktop systems.
No operating system is immune to receiving links to malicious websites or malware.
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While I’m receiving several of the ‘missed call’ messages (even on from Belgium today!), unfortunately my number is also being used as part of the scam and appearing in other peoples phones as a missed call. Obviously my number has been published on a list somewhere. So I am receiving calls from people saying “hey, I missed a call from your number” and then I have to explain to them that, no, I didn’t call them and that it is a scam. It’s very annoying!
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These scam calls are also proliferating on Whatsapp. So far reporting and blocking the numbers have taken them back to zero incomings - at least for now.
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This is generally true.
In any case, I reckon the malicious text message isn’t going to announce the name of the malware or the operating system that it is targetting.
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So the Malware is only downloaded if you download the thing the link takes you to? So since I accidentally preivewed and the page didnt fully load and I close iMessages I should be fine?
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When I first posted this I never expected to find anyone else who has had the same problem. I amazed and very grateful to everyone who has shared their experiences and possible solution 
Coincidentally since I posted it I haven’t received any more of these texts 
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You should be okay. Usually malware needs the user to install it. Irrespective of this, as @PhilT has indicated above, it is worth installing a malware scanning app and carry out regular scans if your device. When deciding on which malware scanner to install, try and select one that reads and identifies known phishing/smishing scam texts. This function may reduce the chance to unwittingly click on links in scam texts.
If you are still concerned after doing the above, find which app on you device opens links in a text message. Go to settings and clear all data. Uninstall the app (if possible) then reinstall. Note: clearing all data/Uninstall will reset the app causing any user settings and past data/messages to be deleted permanently.
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Info about text scams:
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Since you mention iMessages, you would have an Apple device. Correct?
This scam, using flubot, is malware that installs and works on Android operating system devices.
You can click on the link, but the software would not install or work.
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From the above link:
Telstra exchange: text scams.
“Getting strange ‘missed call’ SMS messages? Here’s how to avoid the Flubot
By Clive Reeves
August 12, 2021
If you’ve been receiving some strange, garbled SMS messages mentioning a missed call or voicemail recently, you’re not alone. The messages are generated by malware called Flubot, which spreads via SMS and can infect insecure Android phones.
What is Flubot?
FluBot is malware – like a computer virus – that can be installed on your Android device if you click on a malicious link in a SMS message. This malware then sends many similar text messages to other people from your phone without your knowledge, potentially infecting them. Telstra has identified a number of handsets recently which we believe are potentially infected.”
Lots more useful info follows.
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