Apple Approval Notice text message scam

I just received this text 2 times. I knew immediately it was a scam just by the email it came from. I reported and deleted it.

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.

Iloveapples435 wrote:

I just received this today. This is a scam. I’m pretty sure.

This is absolutely, totally, completely, entirely, certainly, unquestionably, and utterly unequivocally a scam.

Or more succinctly: scam

Don’t interact with the scammers. Always check forums before replying to anything.

Apple will not text you like this.

If they point you to:

General:

Language & Region:

And at the very bottom of the page they point out:

$12,345.67 and 4,567.89, please look at the first three words that say:

Region Format Example

and then maybe look closely at the date, which is usually in the future.

Charges are not listed under language or font preferences.

I got this message today by text, with a different phone number to call. But, it immediately raised red flags because it came from a hotmail.com account. I'm pretty sure Apple doesn't do business through hotmail email.

CocoaBean2018 wrote:

Received this same text scam today from h*******@hotmail.com

Tell your friends and neighbors about this scam.

Let them know about this scam and the many other scams get massively spammed every day, and "sent" from different telephone numbers, and with different email addresses included.

I just receives the exact same message “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. Your Photos, Data, Bank Information and Cards are at risk. If NOT you? talk to an Apple Representative. Failing may lead to auto debit and charge will not be reversed. Call +182******15 immediately to cancel this charge.

Billing Department : Subscriptions and Billing - Official Apple Support

Have a great day!

” From an email: jam********19mail.com - I inmediately blocked it

[Edited by Moderator]

Verovibe wrote:

Hey y’all, it is march 6th 2025. I received this msg twice in one week. Still going around I see. The exact same msg down to the dollar amount. I knew it was scam.

With inevitable text edits and ever-varying contact info, this and similar scams will be going for years, if not decades.

Ever-varying AI-generated scam text will undoubtedly become more common for ever-better scamming, too.

woke up to the thing myself now they’re putting a phishing link in it

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. Your Photos, Data, Bank Information and Cards are at risk. If NOT you? talk to an Apple Representative. Failing may lead to auto debit and charge will not be reversed. Call +1 818*******      immediately to cancel this charge.

Billing Department :  *this is where the phishing link was*

Have a great day! 

RebAnne wrote:

woke up to the thing myself now they’re putting a phishing link in it

“They” is actually thousands of low paid workers, some of then essentially slaves, in other countries (Myanmar is a major source of phishing and other scams) that send out millions of texts, email, phone calls and other ways to try to find suckers who they can fleece. And it continues because it is highly profitable; it is estimated that scams such as this brought in 12.5 billion dollars last year.

I just got this text message this morning. Thankfully, I took the time to read it, and the various grammatical errors raised a few red flags, so I googled this situation instead of calling. The number of scams going on recently has been skyrocketing. Be careful!

Just got this today. Wasn’t from a number though, they used a long and non legible email address. The email address and bad grammar were giant red flags that this was a scam but I came here to see if anyone else got it too. You’d think they’d switch the dollar amount to throw people off but nope that’s still the same.

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.

It is a scam ……. Exactly as posted above.

JD-1955 wrote:

I got this text as well. Is it a scam?

Yes.

This is a scam.

For more info, see the six pages of replies here.