Monroe County warns of Apple Pay phishing scam texts

A text warning of a $572.62 Apple Pay charge is being used to panic Florida Keys residents into calling a phone number that leads to scammers, not Apple. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said the messages claim the recipient, or someone using the account, made a purchase on a pornography website.

The scam is designed to move fast. The text includes a call-back number, uses urgent language and tries to trigger embarrassment or fear before the recipient has time to check the charge. In one reported case, the victim said they had never used the site and did not even use Apple Pay, a sign that the message was meant to cast a wide net rather than target only actual Apple customers.

Deputies said the fake alerts can come from suspicious email addresses instead of an official company source, another hallmark of phishing. Apple says scammers commonly use phishing and social engineering through email, phone calls, text messages and pop-up notifications, and the company says legitimate threat notifications do not include links. Apple also says suspicious email can be forwarded to reportphishing@apple.com.

The playbook in Monroe County matches broader scam patterns security researchers have been documenting. Trend Micro described similar Apple-text scams that use a specific transaction amount, a store name and a case ID to create panic, then push recipients to call a number answered by someone posing as Apple support. That impersonator then seeks credentials and payment details. A prior Trend Micro writeup said similar Apple Pay scams often claimed unauthorized payments in the $100 to $400 range.

The sheriff’s office said the safest response is simple: do not reply to the text, do not call the number in the message and do not send money or information to anyone demanding payment in gift cards or Bitcoin. If a friend or relative sends an unusual request for money, verify it through a known phone number or another trusted channel before acting.

If someone already clicked the link or answered the text, Apple says to use official account settings and service pages, not the contact information in the message. Users should update passwords only in Settings or at account.apple.com, and questions about charges should be checked through the App Store or iTunes Store. In Monroe County, where retirees, seasonal visitors and small-business owners can all be quick to react to a threat about their money, the warning is plain: a fake charge can be the first step in a much larger theft.