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The guidance below is U.S.-specific and applies to credit-card billing errors. Debit-card transactions follow different rules and deadlines.
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Confirm that the charge is really unauthorized
An unfamiliar name on a statement is not automatically fraud. Merchants sometimes use a legal company name, a payment processor, a parent company, or a different name for a subscription. Before disputing the transaction, check the transaction date, amount, and whether it is marked pending.
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- Compare the charge with receipts, order confirmations, travel bookings, and recurring subscriptions.
- Ask other people who are authorized to use the account whether they made the purchase.
- Check whether a small verification charge is connected to a recent purchase or account sign-up.
- Distinguish an unauthorized transaction from a purchase you made where goods were not delivered, were defective, or were misrepresented. Those may be merchant or service disputes rather than unauthorized-use claims.
If the transaction still does not match anything you or an authorized user did, treat it as a suspected unauthorized charge and act promptly. Do not wait for the next statement just because the transaction is still pending.
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What to do immediately
- Contact the issuer through a verified channel. Use the card issuer’s official mobile app or website, or call the number printed on the card or statement. Do not use a phone number from a suspicious text message or an unverified search result. Identify the transaction and state clearly that you did not make or authorize it.
- Stop further exposure. Ask whether the issuer wants you to lock the card, cancel it, issue a replacement, or take additional account-security measures. If card information may have been copied, a replacement card and number may be necessary even when the physical card remains in your possession.
- Record the report. Write down the date and time, the representative’s name or identification number, the case or confirmation number, and any instructions. Save screenshots or in-app confirmations.
- Prepare the written billing-error notice. For a credit-card billing error, send written notice to the billing-dispute address shown in the statement’s instructions. That address can differ from the address used for payments.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) advises notifying the card provider promptly when suspicious activity appears. A phone call can begin the process, but written notice is important for preserving the federal billing-error protections described below.
Send written notice within 60 calendar days
To protect your rights under the credit-card billing-error process, the CFPB says the issuer must receive your written notice within 60 calendar days after the charge first appeared on the statement. Count from the statement date on which the transaction was listed, not from the day you happened to notice it.
Follow the issuer’s billing-dispute instructions and send the notice to the specified billing-error address. Include enough detail for the issuer to identify the account and transaction:
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- Your name and account number, or the account identifier requested by the issuer.
- The transaction date, merchant descriptor, and dollar amount.
- A direct statement that you did not make or authorize the charge.
- A request that the issuer investigate and correct the billing error.
- Copies, not originals, of relevant receipts, cancellation confirmations, or other supporting documents.
Keep a complete copy of the letter and enclosures, plus proof of delivery if you mail it. If the issuer provides a secure online dispute channel, save the submission confirmation, but still follow any instruction requiring a mailed notice.
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How the investigation timeline works
Under the CFPB’s explanation of the billing-error process, the issuer generally has 30 days to acknowledge a written notice. It generally has up to two billing cycles, and no more than 90 days, to complete the investigation and tell you the result. These are process requirements, not a promise that every case will be resolved with a refund by a particular date.
The disputed transaction may remain visible on statements while the investigation is pending. Its appearance does not by itself mean that you have lost the dispute. Keep every statement and message until the issuer confirms the outcome and any adjustment is reflected.
What to pay while the dispute is pending
Do not stop paying the entire credit-card bill. While a qualifying billing-error investigation is pending, you generally do not have to pay the disputed charge or finance and other charges that apply to that disputed amount. You must still pay the undisputed balance, including any required minimum payment attributable to amounts you accept, by the due date.
If you cannot determine what amount is undisputed or how the minimum payment was calculated, contact the issuer before the due date and ask for written clarification. Keep proof of every payment. Missing payment on legitimate charges can create late fees or credit-reporting problems even while a fraud claim is under review.
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When you are liable for an unauthorized credit-card charge
U.S. federal rules summarized by the CFPB set different limits depending on what happened to the card and when you reported it.
| Situation | General federal rule | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| A lost or stolen physical card is reported before anyone uses it | You cannot generally be held responsible for unauthorized charges. | Report the loss immediately and follow the issuer’s replacement instructions. |
| A lost or stolen physical card is used before you report it | Liability is generally capped at $50. | The cap is a general rule; your card agreement may provide greater protection. |
| Only the card number or account details are stolen; the physical card remains with you | You generally have no liability for unauthorized use. | Prompt notice is still essential to stop additional transactions. |
| A person you permitted to use the card makes the purchase | The transaction may be treated as authorized. | Use can remain authorized until you tell the issuer that the person is no longer authorized. |
These are general U.S. protections, not a guarantee about a particular claim. Read the liability and dispute terms in your card agreement, especially if they offer protections beyond the federal minimum.
What the issuer may ask for
An issuer may ask questions, request documents, or ask you to explain when you last had the card. Cooperate with reasonable requests and provide accurate information. Preserve copies of everything you send.
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Credit-card and debit-card rules are different
A debit-card purchase generally pulls money directly from a bank account and is handled under electronic-transfer rules, not the credit-card billing-error process. Do not assume that the 60-day credit-card deadline, investigation timetable, or payment instructions apply to a debit transaction.
| Question | Credit card | Debit card or bank-account transfer |
|---|---|---|
| Where the money comes from | A line of credit shown on a card statement. | Funds are taken from a deposit account. |
| Where to report | The credit-card issuer. | The bank or institution holding the account. |
| Key reporting periods described by the CFPB | Written billing-error notice within 60 calendar days after the charge appeared on the statement. | Certain lost-card situations use a two-business-day period; a statement showing an unauthorized transfer creates a separate 60-day notice period. |
| Investigation timing | Generally 30 days to acknowledge a written notice and up to two billing cycles, generally no more than 90 days, to investigate. | The bank generally has 10 business days to investigate, subject to exceptions and additional procedures. |
| What to do | Follow the issuer’s billing-error process and pay undisputed amounts on time. | Contact the bank immediately and follow its electronic-transfer fraud instructions. |
If you are unsure whether a transaction was made with a credit card, debit card, or bank transfer, identify the account from which the money was taken before choosing the dispute process.
Keep a complete paper trail
Good records make it easier to prove when you reported the transaction and what the issuer told you. Maintain one folder, physical or digital, containing:
- The statement showing the charge and the transaction details.
- Your notes about when you noticed it and what you checked before reporting it.
- Dates, times, phone numbers or secure-message references, representative names, and case numbers.
- A copy of the written notice, attachments, delivery confirmation, and any issuer response.
- Statements showing payments of the undisputed balance.
- Evidence that a card was locked, replaced, or otherwise secured.
Keep the records until the dispute is closed, the correction appears on a statement, and any related account-security issue has been resolved.
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Common mistakes that can weaken a claim
- Waiting for certainty or the next statement: contact the issuer as soon as the transaction remains unexplained.
- Relying only on a phone call: send the written notice to the correct billing-error address within the 60-day period.
- Paying nothing: continue paying undisputed charges and ask the issuer how to calculate the amount due.
- Using the payment address for a dispute: check the statement because billing-error correspondence may go elsewhere.
- Calling a transaction unauthorized when you actually made the purchase: use the merchant-dispute process for nondelivery, defects, or cancellation problems.
- Treating an authorized user’s purchase as theft: permission generally remains relevant until the issuer is told that the person is no longer authorized.
- Applying debit deadlines to a credit card, or vice versa: identify the account type first.
If the card data may have been exposed
A suspicious charge can indicate that card details were compromised even when the physical card is still in your wallet. Ask the issuer whether the account number should be changed and whether additional transactions should be monitored. Review recent and subsequent statements for other unfamiliar activity and report each transaction promptly.
The CFPB advises alerting the financial provider when card data may have been hacked. The official guidance does not establish that a paid identity-monitoring service is necessary. If you have reason to believe information beyond the card number was exposed, ask your bank or issuer what account-security steps apply to that specific exposure.
What happens after the issuer decides
If the issuer finds a billing error, it should correct the account and remove related charges as required by the applicable process. Check a later statement to confirm that the adjustment actually posted.
If the issuer says the transaction was authorized, read the explanation carefully and compare it with your records. Respond within any deadline stated in the decision, provide relevant evidence, and ask what appeal or further-review option is available. Keep making payments on undisputed amounts while any follow-up continues.
For a U.S. credit-card charge that remains unexplained, the safest sequence is straightforward: verify the descriptor, notify the issuer promptly, secure the card, send written notice within 60 calendar days, document every contact, and pay the undisputed balance on time.
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