stolen iphone scam to get access to phone

Definitely a scam. Ignore it. And beware of this common phishing scam: You may get a text or email from “Apple” or “Apple Security” (or sometimes “Police”) saying your phone has been found and to click on a link to see its location. This is NEVER from Apple or from law enforcement; it is from the thief or fence to steal your Apple ID and identity. Delete any such message without responding to it. Apple never gets involved in lost or stolen devices→Recognize and avoid social engineering schemes including phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams

Corgidogmom wrote:

My phone was stolen two weeks ago and it was turned off immediately, I turned on

lost mode and erase mode immediately from my iPad but since it’s off it’s pending I just got the text I’m 100% sure it’s the person who stolen my phone trying to gain access to it

It is. Unless it is from some other criminal to whom they transferred the stolen property.

but is my personal info safe?

Was your phone passcode-locked at the time it was stolen, with a passcode that was not trivial ("123456"), and that the thieves did not have a chance to learn? There are a million different 6-digit passcodes, so if your phone was set up to go into security lockdown after 10 incorrect guesses, their chances of getting in by pure guessing would be only 1 in 100,000.

If the phone went into security lockdown, even you would not be able to get back in except by resetting it, which would erase all of the data on the phone itself. Your only hope for recovering your data would be to get the data back from iCloud (synchronization, backups), e-mail accounts where e-mail is kept on the server, etc.

Of course, with the phone marked as Lost, someone who reset the phone would encounter Activation Lock. You have the credentials to clear it, and presumably, they don't.

That is why you got the "phishing" message. One thing that criminals like to do is to prey on your fear that they have gotten into your phone, or can get into your phone. If you believe their "narrative", they are just "honest" criminals (or "reprocessors", etc.) who just want to protect your data and bank accounts even though they fully intend to continue stealing your phone. That all-too-convenient "narrative" is, of course, a big lie. As the saying goes, I may have been born at night, but I wasn't born last night!!!

All the research I found was never to remove the device from my Apple ID so they cannot access it but how did they even get my number then

I don't know how they got your number, but there are ways they might have gotten it without access to your data.

If you had a physical SIM card, the thieves could have taken that card and put it into another phone. The SIM card contains data about your cellular plan. It does not contain the personal data you would be worried about, which is stored in flash memory inside the phone itself.

If the thieves took a purse, bag, jacket, etc. along with the phone, and that had any identifying information in it, they could have used that to try to figure out your phone number.

If you had a Medical ID and had given the phone permission to show that ID on your Lock Screen, the thieves could have gathered information about you, including phone numbers of emergency contacts, from that ID. Allowing display of the Medical ID is a risk, but if you should fall unconscious due to some emergency, having an ID that first responders could access without unlocking your phone could help them save your life.