Apple Approval Notice text message scam

I got the exact same message on my text from +63*******15 saying Apple Approval Notice. We have noticed that your apple iCloud id was recently used at \"APPLE STORE - CA\" for 143.95, paid by Apple Pay Pre Authorization. Also some suspicious sign in request and apply pay activation request detected. That looks like suspicious to us. In order to maintain the security and privacy of your account. We have placed those request on hold. If NOT you? Talk to an Apple Representative. Failing may lead to auto debit and charge will not be reversed. Call +1 8******110 immediately to cancel this charge. Billing department https://support.apple.com/billing. have a great day. so this number is a scam? Spoof? In my message, I made a screenshot and report to reportphishing@apple.com. What a world we live in because I am getting those scams every now and then. Yikes.

[Edited by Moderator]

HERE IS THE ONE I GOT:

Apple Approval Notice

We have noticed that your Apple iCloud id was recently used at \"APPLE STORE - CA\" for $143.95, paid by Apple Pay Pre Authorization. Also some suspicious sign in request and apple pay activation request detected. That looks like suspicious to us. In order to maintain the security and privacy of your account we have placed those request on hold.  If NOT you? talk to an Apple Representative. Failing may lead to auto debit and charge will not be reversed. Call +1 8******1 immediately to cancel this charge.

Billing Department :  Subscriptions and Billing - Official Apple Support

Have a great day!

[Edited by Moderator]

It’s a scam to get you to give up the “keys to the kingdom” - Your Apple ID and password - so they can hack your account and steal your content, or to trick you into buying expensive but useless software.

Recognize and avoid social engineering schemes including phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams

ColoradoBeginner wrote:

where can I obtain a MANUAL for my iPad 19th generation?

No iPad 19th generation exists.

Here are the iPad 9th generation manuals:

iPad (9th generation) Manuals and Downloads - Apple Support

Here is the user guide for iPadOS 18, for the current version of iPadOS:

iPad User Guide - Apple Support

Kimhedum67 wrote:

just got this message again today:

Yes. You, and millions of others got this today. It’s very common.

I’ve posted a review of the scam wording just above.

The “Pervert” sextortion scam is also quite common. That one has been ongoing for years.

Here is an overview of some of the common scams:

Recognize and avoid social engineering schemes including phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

B673 wrote:

I received the same message but it only shows up on my Apple Watch, how do I block this if it is only on my watch?

Check with your carrier, if the spammers are actually spamming the Watch telephone number. (I wasn’t aware thwt was feasible.) Otherwise, the SMS should be only arriving via the iPhone.

More generally, here are some clues about the message contents, posted earlier in this thread:

Apple Approval Notice text message scam - Apple Community

Get rid of Nord VPN. It has nothing to do with getting scam messages (billions of people daily get scam messages), but using VPN actually makes you more vulnerable to identity theft, because there is a “middleman” (in this case, Nord) that knows and logs everything you do. Thus, you are dependent on the honesty of the VPN provider, and also the risk that they may be hacked.

For the best identity protection enable iCloud+ Private Relay with Safari.

And you might want to review this→VPN: What you need to know - Apple Community

Hello~ Just received what today? A phishing message?? If so click on below….

Recognize and avoid social engineering schemes including phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

If something else …I am afraid you’ll have to explain….

~Katana-San~

I just got this exact same text on 9/26

“HERE IS THE ONE I GOT:”

As did several million other people.

2023Apple wrote:

Since I see someone else apparently got the same notice that their account was charged at Apple for $143.95,

I assume it’s a scam.

please confirm

Still a scam.

I got this message today

My daughter received that text on her iPad. I knew it was a scam from the grammar used, “That looks like suspicious to us…” There were other grammar mistakes but that was the best one haha

The transaction of 143.95cad on my iCloud was not authorized by me

Tipitoes4 wrote:

Same scam message. 2/27/25

You've been to the future?