Potential Apple Store CA Billing scam via text message

Hello~ Scam…don’t interact with it at all. I keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. Click on below…

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

~Katana-San~

I had an email today (Feb 26) with a similar claim. Below is a screenshot. I didn’t click any links or return the call. I blocked the number and email.

[Edited by Moderator]

Yep. I'll admit this one was "a bit" more clever because it mentions "suspicious sign in request", and "That looks like suspicious to us" — but not only wrongly worded ("like" shouldn't be in there), but IRONIC, too. It started out with "Apple Approval Notice — We have noticed that your Apple iCloud id was recently used at "APPLE STORE - CA" for $143.95, paid by Apple...So I checked my accounts, no weird stuff, changed my Apple ID on all my devices, took a screenshot of the text, emailed it to reportphishing@apple.com, then clicked "report junk & delete" under the message in my phone.

Hello~ This is a well known scam. Click on below and review

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

Posting this scammer’s information only perpetuates their scamming efforts.

~Katana-San~

This is not one scammer that sends these types of messages. You will see many from different email addresses that originate from all over the world. There is no possible way for Apple to track down the source of every scam email you would receive. There is a simple rule that will prevent you from being scammed: Do not call a number or click a link in any email and provide personal information. That would be true for any email, not just one that claims to be from Apple. For example, if you get a email from your bank that requires attention, you would contact your bank at a known number or by using their actual website, not by using any contact/link from the email.

As always you can verify any Apple purchase right on your device here:

View your purchase history for the App Store and other Apple media services - Apple Support

Another helpful support article for recognizing and reporting these scams is available here:

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

Just reporting that I got the similar/same text on March 4, 2025

"sent" from do***ley@4821906m@icloud.com

"Apple Approval Notice

Apple iCloud id used at APPLE STORE - CA

$143.95 paid by Apple Pay Pre Authorization

Looked suspicious, hold placed, account info at risk

Call +18***890 (Hawaii #) to cancel charge.

Billing Department:https://support.apple.com/billing"

I checked my Apple information and all seems okay.

Folks, be alert. Don't respond; check it out; delete. Be safe.

V.

[Edited by Moderator]

Oh, and note the "143.95" — same amount used in mine. If this happens regularly enough (unfortunately), sometimes all you need to do is type the amount into the search field for apple communities support, and you'll see someone else had experienced the same thing.

Hello~ Okay….thanks.

~Katana-San~