Unknown charge on my card: how to find out who is charging me

Open the charge in your banking app and write down the exact name, amount, currency and date. Then search your email for that name and that amount: almost every subscription sends a receipt, and the receipt names the real service and links to where you cancel. If you find nothing, ask your bank who received the money: the bank sees more about a charge than it prints on your statement.

What to do in the first 15 minutes

  1. Tap the charge in your banking app and write everything down: the name, the amount, the currency, the date and time. Take a screenshot.
  2. Scroll back and check whether the same amount appeared a month ago or four weeks ago. The same amount on the same day each month is almost always a subscription.
  3. Search your email for the name on the statement, then for the amount (for example “39.99”), then for “receipt”, “invoice”, “subscription”, “your trial”. Check Spam and Promotions too.
  4. Think back: did you pay $0.99 or $1 for a “trial” after a long questionnaire on a website a week or two ago? Those trials turn into full-price subscriptions by themselves. See “I paid $0.99 and they charged me $39”.
  5. Ask the people who can use your card or your phone. A child may have subscribed inside a game; a partner may have signed up to an app.

Why the name on the statement doesn’t match any app

Very often the name on your statement is not the app at all. It is the name of a company that takes payments on behalf of hundreds of different apps and websites. The app may be called “LeanBloom”, while the statement shows a completely different word, sometimes with an asterisk or a dot in it, followed by a shortened product name. This is normal and legal, but it is exactly why people don’t recognize the charge and assume their card was stolen.

So search your inbox for the statement name itself. These payment companies send their own receipt emails, and the receipt usually names the real service and has a “manage subscription” or “cancel” link.

The first full-price charge sometimes shows up under a slightly different name than the trial charge did. Compare the amount and the day of the month, not just the name.

Where else to look for who is charging you

  • iPhone subscriptions. Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Apple’s own charges usually appear as apple.com/bill on a statement. If the subscription isn’t in that list, Apple says it may have been bought from another company: check your statement and contact the company that bills you. Apple also suggests searching your email for “receipt from Apple”. Source: support.apple.com/en-us/118428.
  • Android subscriptions. Open play.google.com/store/account/subscriptions with the Google account that is on your phone. If you have several accounts, check each one.
  • PayPal. If you pay with PayPal, open its settings and look at automatic payments: it lists every business you have allowed to charge you.
  • Your mobile carrier. Some subscriptions are billed to your phone account instead of your card. Check the itemized bill in your carrier’s app.
  • Upcoming payments in your banking app. Some banks show charges scheduled for the next few days, subscriptions included. Look for “upcoming” or “scheduled” in the transactions view; the label differs by bank.

If the subscription is not in your iPhone list and not in Google Play, yet the charges keep coming, you most likely signed up on a website rather than in an app store. How to find and cancel those is a separate article: “How to cancel a subscription you bought on a website”.

What to ask your bank

Call the number on the back of your card or use the chat in the app and say: “I don’t recognize a charge on [date] for [amount]. Can you tell me the full name of the business, its country and website?” The bank sees more about a payment than the statement shows and can often tell you the service right away. While you are there, ask whether the charge is a one-off or whether your card is saved for repeat charges.

If you are sure you never signed up for anything and nobody in your household did either, don’t wait. Freeze or lock the card in the app and report the charge to your bank as unauthorized today: the sooner you report it, the simpler it is. See “How to stop the charges and block your card”.

You found the company. Now what

  1. Cancel the subscription on the company’s website or through the link in the receipt and keep a dated screenshot. Cancelling only stops future charges.
  2. Email the company and ask for a refund. A ready-to-copy text is in “Refund request letter template”.
  3. If the company doesn’t answer or refuses, you can ask your bank to dispute the charge: “How to dispute a card charge through your bank”. The bank will review it, but a refund is not guaranteed, so go within days, not months.
  4. The full plan for any situation is in “Charged for a subscription: what to do”.

Don’t feel foolish. Thousands of careful people end up here, because these sites make the price and the terms hard to see on purpose. If you want to understand how it works so it doesn’t happen again, take our short free course.

Common questions

There is a foreign charge on my card and I didn’t buy anything abroad. Is it fraud?

Not necessarily. Most app subscriptions are sold by companies based abroad, so a charge in another currency or from another country can still be a subscription you started. Search your email and your phone’s subscription list first. If you find nothing and nobody in your household paid, lock the card and report it to your bank.

Why doesn’t the statement show the app’s name?

Because the money is often collected by a payment company that works for many different apps. The statement shows that company’s name, with the app’s name shortened or missing. Its receipt email is usually in your inbox and names the real service.

Can my bank tell me who the money went to?

Usually yes. The bank sees the full business name, country and often the website. Ask in the app chat or by phone.

I found who is charging me. Will I get the money back?

Not always. Cancel first, then ask the company for a refund in writing. If they refuse, you can ask your bank to dispute the charge. Your chances are better if you didn’t use the service and you act quickly.

This is general information, not legal advice. Bank and app store rules change and differ from country to country, so check the steps in your bank’s app or with their support.