OK, y'all...so I'll say...Gemoore37 is correct! Here below is my official clarification from Apple (with 3 examples of texts I received and sent to them from my Apple iPhone text messages--verbatim--just as they came to me--including their exact spacing, caps, & bold):
Text #1--
You kept
AUTOSCAN disabled?! Now 9
MALWARE files corrupt your
device. Remove now
***.com/nQB39XNA
Text #2--
2) More than *5* apps are
stillaccessing your private
data. Delete these
apps immediately ***.com/
RVkMDR4k
Text #3--
3) YOU turned Auto-Scan OFF on
your device! 3 Malicious files
have been found! Enable Auto-
Scan now ****.com/
Xqp9akJR
OK--under each text was also a message below from Apple: "The sender is not in your contact list. Report Junk"
So I don't know how to "report junk," other than just to delete the text message--that's usually good enough for me. But bc of this-here feed, I called Apple Support myself a couple of hours ago (800-275-2273). I spoke with Lalesha who said these are all "scam texts." Calling them @ 1:56 pm, had to wait about 15 minutes on hold, but was able to finish this business in appx 9 more minutes (24 min. total, but it was well-worth it) & I asked her everything I needed--or wanted--to know at this point (at least until scammers find another trick to get us to link to them). By the way, the support rep was very patient and quite clear with me about this. So now you know what I know.
Then she emailed me a link (sorry, folks...that's what she sent me) of an article from Apple on how to block these messages that are "phishing" links, and she commended me on my being suspicious of them instead of acting on what the "texters" wanted me to do.
Here is one of those articles she linked me to on the Apple website (you'll have to trust me on this link, or just call them yourself):
Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support
So I'm convinced that I did right, & not what scammers wanted/expected me to do. Thank you all for us all joining together to find the truth. Wish we could back-scam those danged monkeys, but now we all know how protect ourselves. Thank you, Gemorre37!
-Stephen
[Personal Information Edited by Moderator]