Is this a phishing attempt?

It is a scam.

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

FTC – How To Avoid, Spot, and Report Tech Support Scams

"Real security warnings and messages will never ask you to call a phone number."

If you have any doubts as to whether Apple wants to speak with you, look up Apple's official contact information – for yourself – on their Web site. Then contact them. Never trust a phone number or a link that you receive in some "security warning" that pops up out of the blue. Any scammer can put together a pack of lies claiming that they are from "Apple Security" or "Apple Support" or some such, and giving you a number to connect you to their call center for a fleecing.

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******81 immediately to cancel this charge.

Billing Department : Subscriptions and Billing - Official Apple Support

Have a great day!

This is what I received.

[Edited by Moderator]

My husband and I both got this message on the same day. How dumb are criminals. Totally a scam. The text is from some random number that looks international, the grammar is horrendous and Apple NEVER sends messages like these to its customers. You can always go into your iCloud account and verify or call Apple directly at their REAL number to check on your security. Report as junk and delete.

My wife is getting emails saying her PayPal account is being charged and that she must call to prevent it going through. Looks perfectly legit (except for the actual email address it was sent from). The only problem is that my wife DOES NOT HAVE a PayPal account. She still asked me about it, and she is well educated with two undergraduate and one graduate degrees. These scammers are really good.

Hello~ Click on below and review …

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

These scammers are very technically proficient but criminals all the same.

~Katana-San~

pc0x127 wrote:

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******81 immediately to cancel this charge.

Billing Department : Subscriptions and Billing - Official Apple Support

Have a great day!

This is what I received.

[Edited by Moderator]

Very much a scam. Ignore it. Do not call the number.

Hello~ I have seen phishing attempts from “criminals “ that were perfectly done. Many of these individuals are extremely intelligent and will become more so. While this particular attempt may seem “dumb” be on the lookout for others certainly more sophisticated.

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

~Katana-San~

It's a scam, ignore it. Apple will never send texts advising of purchases like that.

Scam.

Still a scam attempt. Do not interact with the message or the sender.

pc0x127 wrote:

This is what I received.

Another scam. Similar to several e-mail scams that I have seen. The criminals try to deceive you into thinking that you have already been charged for some expensive item that you did not actually purchase, so you'll call them and hand over all the information they need to carry out the rip-off.

The one you got claims to be from an anti-fraud department – but the sharp hook waiting under the fishy-smelling bait is much the same.

Please take note of the grammatical nonsense in that message. Definitely a scam, especially if it contains a link to resolve the issue. The scammer will ask for your Apple Account and Password and then you are toast.

The abysmal standard of written English is the real giveaway here!

Just got a text from a stating your apple storage upgraded and an amount of 459.89 will be debited from apple pay. if not reach apple care at ... I think this is a scam.

[Edited by Moderator]

Of course it's a scam. Do a search on the phone numbers.