Be aware of Top Watch Faces, Writsra Wallpapers, WFTHG.COM, thwatch.app, Frameify. Charges taken outside of Apple Payments

jan-remt wrote:

Experienced exactly same problems as described above. First 6,10 euro's were agreed. But then monthly 25-26 euro payments were charged to my bank account (ING Netherlands). Apple NL advised by to remove the bank debitcard from the wallet, which I did. No idea as yet whether the monthly payments will stop.

Be aware that removing the card from your Wallet is not likely to stop a recurring charge because the merchant is billing your card directly. Apple is not authorizing the charge by having it in your Wallet where it would be declined, it is your bank that authorizes that charge. I would recommend contacting your bank to dispute the charge where they will also have to block future charges, not just issue you a new card.

Ian BUK wrote:

Mine never showed Apple as the billing. As you can see from the attached screenshots (in British £) they charged the card directly. I would love to know how they got me to go from the App to their website to make the purchase without me knowing. I am 100% tech savvy. I built my first app on the App Store way back in 2013 and have the portfolio of apps for different clients on the Apple and Google store’s.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/c0793742-4eaa-4afa-95a5-0bcfdb518adb

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/b377f2d3-74bd-446c-8558-8d4241c955d2

Sounds like it was not an in-app purchase that would be managed by Apple and show in your Purchase History. Apple is required to allow developers to manage their own purchases after they were sued and required to pay huge fines. Apple followed up by attempting to warn users that they were making a purchase outside of the App Store and were sued again and forced to remove the warning.

A web page can be opened up right in the app and accept your payment directly or even Apple Pay where it would not show as an Apple charge. You took the correct action of disputing the charge with the bank of the issued card to get your money back. They can also block future transactions where simply getting a new card may not work if an Automatic Billing Updater is used by the PNO (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc).

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Mark_Brantjes wrote:

How did you stop the payments? My bank says that they cannot help me.

I removed my bankcard from Apple pay, but I am not sure it will help.

I hate to tell you but in a different but similar situation where my bank would not help, I ended up cancelling the credit card and getting a new one. That was the only way to stop the charges.

So far my issue is solved. My credit card company did the research on this shady App Seller, even though it was a purchase made thru Apple pay using that card, they initially gave me a conditional credit, and now that credit has been changed to permanent status. Hopefully there are no more charges moving forward. We'll see.

Simply tell ur cc co. theres a fraudulent charge on ur billing and cancel card.. if ur a longtime/ or good client they will replace it with a new one quick

If you didn't get a receipt from Apple, the charge doesn't appear in your Purchase History, and if your credit card statement doesn't show the charge as apple.com/bill, then the charge was not made through Apple.

Which means you unwittingly clicked through to the developer's website and made the purchase directly with them and gave them your payment credentials. Their charging name should appear in your credit card statement.

Yesterday I felt for the offer. Meaning I accepted the transaction for € 3,99, but then I thought to start the download and another amount of € 19,99 was redrawing from my account without my consensus (read: clicking the button twice). I send an e-mail for refund and cancelation of the subscription. In the response from the support team I got they told me that the subscription is canceled and no further charges will be applied. I hope they keep there word, but I've my doubt. The app itself is as bad and they want to collect all kind of data (location an health). Furthermore I contact my bank, but the amounts I mentioned are lost. Expensive lessen.....

I was also scammed by a watch face app. None of these fantastic watchfaces actually function. They use the Photos face to attract you to a photo of a non-functioning face. Once you've downloaded the app, they lure you outside of the App Store environment and get you to make a purchase on their own store front.

Fortunately I use PayPal as my payment method and was able to shut down any further charges, but I did have to pay the first charge which PayPal viewed as legitimate.

I've learned that anything that seems to be fantastic when it comes to an Watch is likely a scam to lead you outside of the safety of the App Store environment where it's a dog eat dog world.

M1 Mac mini, macOS 26.2;  Watch, Series 10 GPS-only, watchOS 26.2; iPhone 16, iOS 26.2; TV 4th Gen, tvOS 26.2 HomePods, audioOS 26.2

These people are scammers and they offer the app as FREE and all of a sudden payments start coming out of your account. I had to cancel my card with my bank which has resulted in my device being blocked from adding my new card, its an absolute nightmare and these people should not be able to get away with using the App Store to mislead people and then helping themselves to money as and when they wish. They even sent an email that said download more watch faces which triggers another automatic payments/subscription. I am sure what they are doing is illegal and Apple need to remove this app from the App Store URGENTLY....!!! From my research a lot of people are being scammed by them its all over the internet

Apple please do something to stop people like this...!!!!

[Edited by Moderator]

The crazy thing is I most certainly did not enter my credit card information on any of their sites. I may have clicked a button in Facebook to look at their product, but I never entered any kind of payment information for any kind of trial or purchasing anything. I am certainly savvy enough to know when to do that or when not to do that. And would never buy anything to install on my iPhone that did not come through the Apple App Store. This is why I am so concerned that they have actually been able to charge my card. It’s no problem, because my credit card company will back me up 100%. Still concerning how they ended up getting the payment information.

If a bank reverses charges to Apple on a bank card used as your Apple payment method, Apple disables the account until you've repayed Apple for the loss.

If this hasn't happened to your account, the charge was not made through Apple. As I stated before, if you didn't get a receipt from Apple, the charge doesn't appear in your Purchase History, and if your credit card statement doesn't show the charge as apple.com/bill, then the charge was not made through Apple.

swdunne wrote:

I have had the exact same experience as others have stated. how did theyt get the credit card info? I did not enter any card inof, i would only use PayPal or Apple Pay for this very reason.

They got the ability to charge your card by using PayPal or Apple Pay. Apple Pay does not disclose your actual card number to the merchant, but does give them the token that was provided by your bank to use for those charges. The security benefit for using Apple Pay is that the token cannot be leaked on the internet and used by anyone else to charge your account, unlike if they had the actual account number to your credit card. The merchant you authorized use of the token is allowed to use a recurring charge, which is why you can also use it for other subscriptions where it is accepted. You did the right thing by disputing the charge with your bank where they can also block future charges.