Unfortunately, scams like this aren't new on the App Store. Ever since the App Store has been around there's been seedy apps perpetrating to do things that just aren't possible. You just have to do a search for apps like "location trackers" to see how widespread it is.
I saw this particular app in the Top 100 around 2 months ago, and noticed it had an average rating of 1 star, how this has evaded being on Apple's radar for this long is beyond me.
Apple has taken a lot of flak for being too stringent and strict with the App Store review process, but this is one area the whole process was designed to fix. This is literally a case of a single guy falsely advertising his app and, by all accounts, having hundreds of thousands people fall for it and pay $1.99 for the privilege of being screwed.
Dear Apple,
As an Apple developer and longtime user, I'm proud to recommend Apple products to my friends and family. There is simplicity, thoughtful constraint, and craftsmanship in everything Apple does.
I'm surprised this app was approved in the first place. By many accounts, it does absolutely nothing. I cannot count on two hands how many App Store rules this developer is violating.
And the App Store review system is obviously being gamed. This developer is earning thousands of hard-earned dollars from Apple customers who trust you to keep garbage out of the App Store.
I love Apple. Please don't let the App Store resemble the cheap, neglected morass of the Android Market.
Your e-mail is probably destined for the bitbucket. If you really want to affect change, I'd suggest spreading a link to this to everyone you can. Generally, with problems like this, they only go away after reaching a sufficient level of media exposure.
On the other hand, if you're really lucky, someone from Apple is reading this right now and taking care of it :)
I saw this particular app in the Top 100 around 2 months ago, and noticed it had an average rating of 1 star, how this has evaded being on Apple's radar for this long is beyond me.
Apple has taken a lot of flak for being too stringent and strict with the App Store review process, but this is one area the whole process was designed to fix. This is literally a case of a single guy falsely advertising his app and, by all accounts, having hundreds of thousands people fall for it and pay $1.99 for the privilege of being screwed.