Can a Merchant Charge Your Card Without Permission?
This guide explains what counts as an unauthorized charge, why recurring billing is treated differently, and how to fight a charge that truly should not be there.
Unauthorized charges are fraud
A merchant cannot legally charge your card for something you never authorized. If that happens, it is fraud, and federal law and your issuer fraud protection cap your liability, in practice almost always at zero. Report it, and the charge is reversed and the card usually reissued.
The recurring-charge gray area
The confusing part is recurring billing. When you sign up for a subscription or start a free trial that converts to paid, you authorized future charges, even if you forgot. Those are not unauthorized, so the fix is to cancel the recurring charge rather than report fraud. Read the terms on free trials, which are designed to roll into paid plans.
How to fight a charge that should not be there
If a charge is genuinely unauthorized, or a merchant keeps billing after you canceled, you can dispute it with your issuer, and there are time limits to respect. Keep records of any cancellation. For anything that looks like account theft rather than a single bad charge, treat it as identity theft and freeze your credit.
- A charge you never authorized is fraud, with liability capped by law.
- Your card fraud protection usually makes your liability zero.
- Recurring charges you agreed to continue until you cancel.
- Free trials that convert to paid are authorized, not fraud.
- Truly unauthorized charges can be disputed and reversed.
Frequently asked questions
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