How can I identify Apple Pay scam emails?

You can recognize scam emails by several characteristics. One is the call to action or immediate need to respond. Two, banks do the exact opposite, they stop suspected fraudulent charges, then ask if you want it approved. They Do NOT charge your account and then say they think it’s fraudulent. Do you see the difference? 😀 Lastly, merchants do not contact you about suspected fraudulent charges. Either your bank or the Payment Network Processor (Mastercard, Visa, American Express etc.) will contact you, but only after declining the transaction.

“Don't answer suspicious phone calls or messages claiming to be from Apple. Instead, contact Apple directly through our official support channels.”

”To report a suspicious SMS text message that looks like it's supposed to be from Apple, take a screenshot of the message and email the screenshot to reportphishing@apple.com.”

You can report phishing at these links and most importantly your local law enforcement.

• Identify legitimate emails from the App Store or iTunes Store.
• FTC Complaint Assistant
• FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center

Learn about how not to be a victim of Social Engineering.

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

It seems like a scam to me. If you want to be sure, check your receipts from apple using this way:

How to see what you were charged for

1. To see your purchase history, go to reportaproblem.apple.com.
2. Sign in with your Apple Account to see a list of purchases.
3. If you want to see family members' purchases, select the Apple Account button and choose a family member.
4. To see the full receipt, including tax, tap or click the date. Multiple purchases, including subscriptions, might be grouped onto one charge.

If the charge is for a subscription that you no longer want, you can cancel the subscription. You can also view your Purchase History on your device.

Scam, as mentioned in the replies above.

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

This particular Apple-Pay-declined scam has been ongoing for a long while, and the scammers have been adding new recipients. Such as yourself.

Variations of the “pervert” scam — various false claims — are also ongoing, with a new variant reportedly recently starting.

Yes it is a scam! Luckily the number did not work as they would have asked you personal information to compromise your account. Never call a number or click a link in any email/message and provided personal information. Just by calling the number, it would alert them that you are susceptible to believing what they say and you will receive more of those same types of scams.

You do know that you can log on to your Apple account to see if a charge was made to your credit card, correct?

When you check your account directly, of course you will see that no such charge was ever made.....confirming that the message that you received was a scam...... to try to get you to call another number and provide your personal information to them so they could access your bank or credit card details.

Never use the link or phone number in a message like this....because the message was not from Apple.