Apple Approval Notice text message scam

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.

RebAnne wrote:

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

Would not surprise me. In the previous message, that link was to the actual Apple Billing page to try and prove legitimacy, but of course the charge would not be found and the confused user who received the message would then call that provided number for an explanation and fearing they would still be charged if they did not call.

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.

This is what I got:

Your Apple ID was used at "App Store" for $189.99. To ensure safety we hold Payment for approval. If not you then contact Support  +180******32

probably someone from Africa, trying to do a scam

[Edited by Moderator]

I just got this so they are still at it…

Your Apple ID was used at "App Store" for $149.99. To ensure safety we hold Payment for approval. If not you then contact Support  +18503******

I did not respond and blocked

[Edited by Moderator]

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!

MrHoffman wrote:

glossolaliac wrote:

Received this message today, 4.9.25, so it's still circulating.

It and variations will continue circulating for the foreseeable future, decades, and variations will outlast all of us.

Hello~ Sad but so very true…

~Katana-San~

Received today, so still going strong! I didn't call, however. It seems we have training every other week on phishing, spear-phishing, quishing, vishing, smishing, ... (there are too many ishings, lol), but it works.

Hello. Just another person trying to make sure no one gets scammed. It was obvious. Even called off of a different number. Apple will never direct you to download a non apple app for that kind of issue. The little asian lady really thought I was a bone head and I actually had a great time wasting hers. Be careful yall

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.

HELP! I clicked on the link in that text.....can they do anything with that?? this is the link they sent in the text;

https://support.apple.com/billing.

As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, this and many other scams are ongoing.

One option for reducing these unsolicited SMS messages is a text-blocking app such as Bouncer.

[Edited by Moderator]