Apple Approval Notice text message scam

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

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.

Settings>General>Language & Region>Format Example is NOT a charge. It's just showing you how things will look with the region settings you've chosen. It's there on every single iPhone.

Unless you gave the person on the phone information such as your Apple Account login and password or credit card information, you should be fine.

Educatorsu wrote:

But mine which is the exact one posted here came via text message, not email.

With no disrespect intended, why would myriad spammers and myriad scammer restrict themselves to just one communications path to conduct their myriad scams, and not use every available means?

I’d also expect they copy what they suspect are working scams from other scammers too, whether it’s this one, the ever-popular “hello pervert” sextortion, or approximately 3.1415926 billion other variations.

This scamming is, after all, a large and highly automated business.

That link is a legitimate Apple link. The phone number included in those scam messages will not be legitimate.

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

Emmalee00 wrote:

Today is December 19th and I just got this text!!! They are still at it! I’m so glad that I googled this before responding! It seemed pretty shady!

And they will still be "at it" for as long as people have text messaging. And then they'll move on to whatever comes next. Delete and move on.

christiane221 wrote:

I got this message today

joethinkley wrote:

got the same today 12/20/2024

It's SPAM! We all get spam.........every day. Don't take this the wrong way, but no one here is surprised you got spam and no one really cares. It's a fact of life, like death and taxes.

Oh wow. This one almost got me. So many charges over the holidays... no idea what the $143.95 could be for... The only thing that tipped me off was the country code of +63. Does Apple operate out of the Phillipines?

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…

The scammer was almost certainly not in New Jersey. Calling numbers are routinely faked.

Giving a scammer your Apple Account will get you more spam, and will get you more scams, and will get more and better-targeted phishing, but won’t compromise your security.

But giving a scammer your Apple Account password is a major problem, will compromise your security, and will lead to an exceedingly bad day.

If you gave out your password, change your Apple Account password NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW.

If you gave out your password, and as was linked in IdrisSeabright’s response immediately above:

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

If you can’t change your password, you unfortunately may well have already lost control of that account, amd everything associated with it.

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]

MHowl wrote:

I believe this is a scam. I did not call but others say it is.

Some very few of many frauds: Recognize and avoid social engineering schemes including phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Lots more scams: https://reddit.com/r/scams

Received text message:

“Apple Approval Notice

We have noticed that your Apple iCloud id

Word salad. It’s also called an “Apple Account”, formerly “Apple ID”.

The scammers haven’t caught up with the name change.

…was recently used at "APPLE STORE - CA" for $143.95, paid by Apple Pay Pre Authorization.

More word salad

Also some suspicious sign in request and apple pay activation request detected.

More word salad, typos and bad grammar and all.

That looks like suspicious to us.

Yeah, even more mis-grammatical word salad

In order to maintain the security and privacy of your account we have placed those request on hold. 

Wow, even more word salad.

If NOT you? talk to an Apple Representative.

Word salad.

When fraud is suspected, banks default to rejecting.

They’ll ask you to confirm your (blocked) purchase, not to block some suspected-fraudulent purchase.

Failing may lead to auto debit and charge will not be reversed.

Word salad, and also not how credit card billing and payment disputes work.

Call +1 805366**** immediately to cancel this charge.

Yeah, because Apple is likely to be posting a not-toll-free telephone number, and — if you searched for it — a telephone number that goes who-knows-where, but not to Apple.

Billing Department :  Subscriptions and Billing - Official Apple Support

Hahahhahah no.

Have a great day!”

Also nope.

If this text message were from Biff’s Big Y Market and Pancake Restaurant’s Department of Fraud Prevention, I’d expect grammar and phrasing errors. Biff’s never been good at the grammars. For messages from Apple, not so much.

Now… assuming that all the above details still might not convince some folks that this message is a scam, the next stop is to contact Apple Support directly, using a telephone number that is posted at the Apple website, and ask them. Anybody can answer a phone number, and lie about who they are, too.

PS: Calling telephone numbers and SMS sending numbers and sending email addresses can all be spoofed / faked / forged, too.

PPS: for even more, see the eight pages of replies posted here.

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.