Cybercriminals are using deceptive messages that mimic trusted notifications to trick iPhone users into disabling iMessage's built-in phishing protection.
These phishing messages often appear to come from legitimate organizations like USPS or toll road authorities, instructing users to reply to activate malicious links.
Once users respond, the previously disabled links become clickable, exposing them to potential scams and confirming their phone number is active.
To protect yourself, avoid responding to messages from unknown senders and enable message filtering on your iPhone.
Enabling message filtering moves messages from unknown contacts into a separate list, making it easier to identify and avoid suspicious messages.