Apple Approval Notice text message scam

midgiesmom58 wrote:

I just got it this morning, 12/19/24. I always check the phone number. The country dial code on my scam text was 63, meaning it came from the Philippines. I blocked it. If you're unsure about whether a text is legit Been Verified is a good way to check. You type in the phone number and it will tell you if it's possible scam call or text.

Yup, it's a scam. Delete it and move on.

nottemare wrote:

This is what I got. I called and he asked for my ID and first and last name and I hesitated, we got disconnected so he called me right back, from NJ. That's when I got nervous. I've dealt with Apple support and even though he was patient something felt off. I started checking the account attached to the Apple Pay. Which I should have done first. I'm not seeing any charges.

Did you give him your Apple ID? If so, you may want to look at this article:

If you think your Apple Account has been compromised - Apple Support

nsnelson925 wrote:

Got this today 1/8/25 from +63 9**********

[Edited by Moderator]

Yep. So have millions of other folks. Apple login fakes, Apple billing fakes, pick-your-bank fakes, some wonderfully well done AT&T billing fakes, USPS and other delivery service fakes, free-stuff fakes, romance scams, cryptocurrency scams, the ever popular sextortion and “hello pervert” scams, the list of scams here is endless.

Here are a very few of the many other scams:

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

PS: Getting an international text (from Philippines, here) about Apple billing this would make these particular messages suspect, too.

qtboy wrote:

Wow, I just got it. I’m not taking any action other than deleting and reporting as junk. What I don’t get, is where and how did they get my iMessage name? Or did they?

Millions of people get spam, and scams.

Collecting and spamming phones and spamming texts and spamming messages is a business.

Spam from Messages tends to be a bit easier to deal with than does spam by SMS or RCS. Apple can better block that spam, when it gets reported. As for SMS and RCS spam, the carriers have been slow to address that mess. (There are apps that help with SMS spam, such as the Bouncer app.)

How does this work? Collect (or steal) a pile of email addresses, look for the iCloud addresses among those, and off you go with a list for the Apple-flavored scams. And if the spammer send a few million wrong scams to the wrong address, the spammer doesn't care.)

Want to know (some of the places) where your email address has been breached? Start here:

https://haveibeenpwned.com/

As for how to get a list for SMS and RCS spam, ~everybody knows every possible phone number. 😉

Rem92601 wrote:

I just got this message at 9:08 this morning and it has an email as the contact. Do I need to report this to authorities or just block and move on?

The world is a little more complex, with millions of spam and scams messages being generated continuously by the many scammers’ many businesses, and with as many as 38 different times all “9:08 this morning”, and with no global email log, and where the spammers will have moved on to a different email address(es) already, or just as soon as the one they’re using is taken offline.

As mentioned, delete and move on.

Maybe also enable unknown-sender filtering, or add an SMS filter such as Bouncer.

In years passed, there were some efforts in the US to reduce SMS spam, and to target scammers’ financial linkages, but I don’t expect much further progress in that area for a while.

Hello~ Click on below and read and review…

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

We must do our part as well. Take care.

~Katana-San~

Hello~ It’s just scammers doing what scammers do. Click on below…

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

~Katana-San~

No, it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t from Apple, you got one of probably a million identical scam messages sent out by criminals today. Just like they did yesterday, and will do again tomorrow. Please read this→Recognize and avoid social engineering schemes including phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams

Little_Beauty272 wrote:

I received this same text above this morning what precautions do I need to do?

The only precaution you need to take is to remember not to click on any links in the message or call any numbers. Delete the message.

Little_Beauty272 wrote:

I received this same text above this morning what precautions do I need to do?

All you need to do is delete it. You can report it if you wish, but the sender is spoofed so blocking is not very successful. The only time you would need to take additional action is if you called the number and provided any information.

Little_Beauty272 wrote:

I received this same text above this morning what precautions do I need to do?

Welcome to 2025.

For this scam spam, you need do nothing other than ignoring and deleting it.

For what else to do, you will want to adjust your personal credulity setting to a value most appropriate for 2025.

Calls, texts, emails, direct messages, and social media postings from unknown sources are all best assumed to be scams, lies, fraud, advertisements, rage bait, engagement, or propaganda.

Calls, texts, DMs, and emails from apparently-known sources might be scams, lies, fraud, rage bait, or propaganda, too.

Same caution around what is shown in search engine results applies here too, unfortunately.

If you’re unsure whether something you’re reading is true, use some other means to contact the supposed sender. Use the support number on the back of your payment card or your most recent regular bill, for instance. Or check your Apple billing and subscription info, or Apple Card info.

To reduce the SMS and RCS chatter including the advertising and the political spam and scams, an app such as Bouncer might help, as can the built-in mechanism for muting unknown numbers.

Here are a very few of the common scams: Recognize and avoid social engineering schemes including phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support (and that list omits romance scams and other common dreck.)

Yeah. This whole mess is Not Fun.

Hello~ Never call, click or interact in any way. Now your number has been verified as a working number and will be called over and over. It will be sold to others who will then begin to call. Best to dismiss and move along . See this Apple Support article….

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

If you gave out any information…

If you think your Apple Account has been compromised - Apple Support

~Katana-San~

Smorris825 wrote:

I got this message today, I did call the number, but became very suspicious the person was not professional. did have me look under General then the Language & Region where under Region Format Example there were two charges dated August 19, 2025, in the amts of $12,345.67 and $4567.89. Not sure how they were able to do this, not sure if my phone is now compromised.

As mentioned above, all of that is utterly normal, and not what the scammer claimed.

Tech support scammers have all sorts of things they’ll point to as part of the pretext of the scam (not the least of which includes telemetry), and to help identify those worth investing the time necessary to scam.

Engaging scammers means your contact info is worth more to resell to other scammers, and you yourself become worth more to target for future scams and phishing.

That is not Apple , block the sender she ignore the message , Apple never contact users

It is a scam. Do not interact with the message or the sender.