If a recurring charge appears for something you never knowingly signed up for, you have two jobs: stop the charge from repeating and recover the money already taken. The good news is that recurring billing is covered by real consumer-protection rules, and a charge you did not authorize is exactly what a card dispute is designed for. This page walks through stopping it at the source, disputing it with your bank, and protecting yourself going forward.
"I never signed up" and "I forgot I signed up" are handled differently. A truly unauthorized charge — one you never agreed to — is reported to your bank as unauthorized and is often refunded under federal rules. A charge from a plan you did sign up for and forgot is a normal cancellation and refund request. Be honest about which one it is, because disputing a charge you actually authorized can backfire.
Before you can stop an unauthorized subscription, you have to identify the merchant behind the charge. The descriptor on your statement points to the billing channel, not always the company name you would recognize:
If you genuinely cannot match a charge to anything, treat it as suspicious and move straight to your bank, since it may be a billing error or fraud rather than a forgotten plan.
If you can identify the merchant, contact them first and state clearly that you did not authorize the subscription and want all future recurring charges stopped. Use email or a written form where possible so you have a dated record. Ask for written confirmation that the recurring billing is cancelled.
If the charge runs through Apple, open Settings → your name → Subscriptions and cancel it there. For Google Play, open Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions. For PayPal, open Automatic Payments and cancel the agreement. Cancelling in the platform stops it even if the merchant is unresponsive.
You can ask your bank or card issuer to stop a recurring payment, sometimes called revoking authorization. Do this in writing where you can. Note that getting new card numbers does not always stop a recurring charge on its own, because some networks update the merchant automatically, so the dispute step still matters.
Report the unauthorized charges to your card issuer or bank and request a chargeback or dispute. For an unauthorized debit-card transaction, Regulation E generally gives you about 60 days from the statement date to report it; the bank must investigate, reverse improper charges, and refund related fees. For credit cards, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives roughly 60 days from the statement date to dispute a billing error.
After cancelling and disputing, monitor your statement for the next one to two cycles to confirm the charge does not reappear under a slightly different descriptor. If it does, reopen the dispute and reference your earlier cancellation record.
Unauthorized and forgotten charges hide because nobody is watching all your recurring payments in one place. SubScan lets you list every subscription, see your true monthly and yearly total, and flag anything that does not belong — so a charge you never agreed to stands out fast. Everything runs on your device: no bank login, no account, no upload.
List your subscriptions →Recurring billing is covered by several consumer-protection rules. ROSCA and various state auto-renewal laws require clear terms and a reasonably simple way to cancel, and a charge you never agreed to is squarely the kind of thing dispute rights exist for. Regulation E covers unauthorized debit-card and bank transactions, generally giving you about 60 days from the statement date to report, while the Fair Credit Billing Act gives roughly 60 days to dispute a credit-card billing error. A proposed FTC "click-to-cancel" rule was struck down by a US appeals court in July 2025 and is not currently in effect, but the rules above still apply. This page is informational and does not cancel or dispute anything for you.
An unauthorized charge is one you never agreed to, such as a recurring payment that started without your consent or continued after you clearly cancelled. It is different from a plan you did sign up for and then forgot, which is treated as a normal cancellation and refund request. Be accurate about which one it is, because disputing a charge you actually authorized can be reversed if the merchant shows your agreement.
Not reliably on its own. Some card networks automatically update merchants with your new card number, so a recurring charge can follow you to a replacement card. The more dependable approach is to revoke authorization with your bank in writing, cancel at the merchant or billing platform, and dispute the charges you did not authorize.
For unauthorized debit-card or bank transactions, Regulation E generally gives you about 60 days from the statement date to report it to your bank. For credit cards, the Fair Credit Billing Act allows roughly 60 days from the statement date to dispute a billing error. Acting sooner is always safer, and you should keep dated records of when you noticed and reported the charge.
You can pursue both. Cancelling at the source stops future charges, and a dispute or chargeback with your bank targets the money already taken. Banks often issue a provisional credit while investigating an unauthorized debit and make it permanent if the dispute holds. A refund is not guaranteed, but unauthorized charges have the strongest case.
Keep a single up-to-date list of every recurring charge so an unfamiliar one stands out immediately. SubScan does this on-device, totalling your subscriptions and surfacing renewal dates so a charge you never agreed to is easy to spot before it repeats, without connecting your bank or creating an account.
For informational purposes only — not financial or legal advice. SubScan does not cancel, pause, or dispute subscriptions for you. Whether an unauthorized charge can be stopped or reversed is handled by your bank, card issuer, or the merchant and is not guaranteed. Consumer-protection rules such as the Fair Credit Billing Act, Regulation E, ROSCA, and state auto-renewal laws apply in the United States and details can vary by state and over time; confirm the current process and your rights with your own bank, card issuer, or a qualified professional. Brand and service names are used for identification only.