What to Do if Your Credit or Debit Card is Charged Without Permission
An unfamiliar charge is one of three things, and which one it is decides everything that follows.
Fraud. Someone else used your card details. You have the strongest protections here.
A billing dispute. You did business with the company, but the charge is wrong: the wrong amount, a duplicate, a service you canceled, something never delivered.
A charge you forgot. An annual renewal, a free trial that converted, a purchase under an unfamiliar merchant name.
Check the third possibility before you call, because most "unknown" charges are legitimate. Look up the exact merchant descriptor from your statement, and check your email for a receipt around that date. Statement names often differ from trading names.
If it is genuinely not yours, act quickly. The deadlines are short and they are not the same for credit and debit.
What to do first
1. Do not contact the merchant if you suspect fraud. For genuine fraud, go straight to your card issuer. For a dispute with a company you did business with, the merchant first is usually faster.
2. Call your card issuer using the number on the back of the card or in its official app. Report the charge and say plainly whether you believe it is fraudulent or a billing error, because they are handled under different rules.
3. Ask them to freeze or replace the card if the details are compromised. This is the step that stops further charges. Card details are usually tested with a small charge before a large one, so a small unfamiliar charge is a warning worth acting on.
4. Check for other charges across every account, including ones you rarely look at.
5. Get the dispute in writing. A phone call starts it; written notice is what preserves your legal rights.
Credit cards: what the law gives you
Credit cards are the stronger instrument, by some distance.
Unauthorized charges. Your maximum liability under the Fair Credit Billing Act, the federal law covering credit card billing, is $50, and in practice every major issuer and card network applies a zero-liability policy. If you report the card lost or stolen before it is used, you owe nothing at all.
Billing errors. The FCBA covers charges for goods or services you did not accept or that were not delivered as agreed, wrong amounts, duplicates, and failures to post credits.
To use it, notify your issuer in writing within 60 days of the statement containing the error being sent. That deadline is the important part. Use the address for billing enquiries, which is not the payment address, and keep proof of sending.
Once you have notified them:
- They must acknowledge within 30 days.
- They must resolve the dispute within two billing cycles, and no more than 90 days.
- You do not have to pay the disputed amount while they investigate.
- They cannot report it as delinquent while it is being investigated.
Debit cards: less protection, tighter deadlines
Debit cards are governed by a different federal law, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the rule that implements it, Regulation E. They are weaker in a way that matters: the money has already left your account, so you are waiting to get it back rather than declining to pay.
Your liability depends entirely on how fast you report.
| When you report | Your maximum liability |
|---|---|
| Before any unauthorized use | $0 |
| Within 2 business days of learning of it | $50 |
| After 2 days, within 60 days of the statement | $500 |
| More than 60 days after the statement | Potentially unlimited |
Once notified, the bank generally has 10 business days to investigate, and must normally give you provisional credit if it takes longer, up to 45 days. Provisional credit is a temporary refund that sits in your account while the bank investigates. That extends to 20 business days and 90 days for new accounts and for some point-of-sale and foreign transactions.
Many banks apply voluntary zero-liability policies that are more generous than the law, but those are policies, not rights.
The practical conclusion: for anything with risk — online purchases, unfamiliar merchants, subscriptions, deposits paid well before delivery — use a credit card.
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Recurring charges after you canceled
A common and frustrating case, and it sits between fraud and a billing dispute.
If you canceled and were charged anyway, that is a billing error rather than fraud. The route is:
- Contact the merchant with your cancellation confirmation and ask for a refund.
- If they refuse, ask your card company to reverse the payment — a chargeback — giving "canceled recurring transaction" as the reason, which is one of the standard grounds.
- Provide the cancellation evidence. This is why keeping the confirmation email matters so much.
- Ask the issuer to block future charges from that merchant, which most can do.
Do not simply cancel the card and assume the problem is solved. Merchants can pursue the balance, and the card networks operate account updater services that automatically pass new card numbers to merchants with existing recurring authorizations.
How to write the dispute
Written notice is what protects you. Keep it short and factual.
Include: your name and account number, the merchant name exactly as it appears on the statement, the date and amount, a one-line statement of why the charge is wrong, and what you want done.
For example: "I am disputing a charge of $148.32 from [merchant] dated August 14, 2026. I canceled this subscription on July 2, 2026 and hold the cancellation confirmation, which is attached. I request that this charge be reversed."
Attach evidence. Send it so you can prove it arrived. Keep a copy.
If the dispute is denied
It is not necessarily over.
Ask for the reason in writing and for the evidence the merchant supplied. You are entitled to know the basis of the decision.
Provide rebuttal evidence. Denials often turn on a single missing document, most commonly proof of cancellation or proof of non-delivery.
Escalate within the bank to its complaints team.
Complain to the CFPB. This is effective for card and bank disputes, because the company must respond and the exchange is on the record.
Consider small claims court for larger amounts.
Preventing the next one
Turn on transaction alerts for every card. Instant notifications are the fastest way to catch fraud inside the two-day window.
Check statements monthly, looking for small amounts as well as large ones.
Use virtual card numbers where your issuer offers them, especially for trials and unfamiliar merchants.
Keep recurring charges on one card, which makes them easy to audit.
Freeze your credit if your details were exposed in a breach. It is free and it stops new accounts being opened in your name.
When an unauthorized charge is a company-wide problem
Sometimes an unauthorized or unexpected charge is not an isolated error but a company-wide billing practice: automatic renewals that were never clearly disclosed, fees applied without consent, or charges that continued after cancellation.
Those patterns are what consumer class actions are built on, and they regularly end in settlements that refund people years later.
- How long do I have to dispute an unauthorized charge?
- For credit cards, notify your issuer in writing within 60 days of the statement containing the charge being sent. For debit cards, report within two business days of learning about it to cap liability at $50, since that rises to $500 up to 60 days and is uncapped after that.
- Am I liable for fraudulent charges on my credit card?
- Your maximum liability under federal law is $50, and every major issuer applies a zero-liability policy in practice, so you usually pay nothing. If you report the card lost or stolen before any fraudulent use occurs, you owe nothing at all.
- Is a debit card as safe as a credit card?
- No. Debit protections are weaker, the deadlines are tighter, and the money leaves your account while the bank investigates rather than being withheld from a bill you have not yet paid. Use a credit card for online purchases, unfamiliar merchants, and anything paid well before delivery.
- What if I was charged after canceling a subscription?
- That is a billing error rather than fraud, so contact the merchant with your cancellation confirmation first, then dispute it with your issuer as a canceled recurring transaction if they refuse. Ask your issuer to block further charges from that merchant as well.
- Does canceling my card stop unauthorized recurring charges?
- Not reliably. The card networks run account updater services that pass new card numbers to merchants holding existing recurring authorizations, so the charge can follow the replacement card. Cancel with the merchant, dispute the charge, and ask the issuer to block that merchant.
- What should I do if my dispute is denied?
- Ask for the reason and the merchant's evidence in writing, then respond with whatever document was missing, which is most often proof of cancellation or non-delivery. If the bank still refuses, complain to the CFPB, which requires a response and puts the exchange on the record.
Related reading
There is a fill-in letter you can adapt in the refund guide. If a merchant is refusing a refund on a charge you did authorize, the route is different: see what to do when a company won't give you a refund. If you were tricked into sending money, read what to do if you paid a scammer. If the charge turned out to be a subscription you forgot, start with how to find and cancel forgotten subscriptions.
