What do I do about a payment I do not recognise?
Identify it before reporting it — most unfamiliar payments are legitimate under an unfamiliar name.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 30 min
- Read
- 2 min
- Safety
- warning
Short answer
Search the exact merchant name from the statement before doing anything. Most unrecognised payments are a parent company or a payment processor rather than fraud. If it genuinely is not yours, contact your bank straight away.
Statements show the name the merchant registered rather than the brand you bought from, so most unfamiliar entries are legitimate. Identifying it first avoids the disruption of cancelling a card you did not need to cancel.
Safety
Step by step
- Search the exact merchant string.Copy it precisely, including any location or reference code, and search it. Someone will have identified it — most of these are parent companies or payment processors.
- Check the date and amount against what you did.A subscription renewal, an annual fee, a delayed charge, a pre-authorisation on a hotel or fuel. Timing usually identifies it.
- Check with everyone on the account.Joint accounts and additional cardholders. A surprising share of unrecognised payments are someone else in the household.
- Check the app store subscription lists.Anything bought through a phone appears under the platform's name rather than the service's. A very common source of confusion.
- Look for a small unfamiliar payment before a large one.Fraudsters test a card with a tiny transaction first. A small odd payment is worth taking seriously rather than ignoring.
- Contact the bank if you cannot identify it.Through the app or a number you look up yourself. They can tell you more about the merchant, and they will block and reissue if needed.
- Report it as fraud if it is not yours.You are generally entitled to a refund of unauthorised transactions, usually promptly. Report all of them, not just the largest.
- Check the rest of the statement carefully.If one fraudulent payment appears, look through several months. Small recurring amounts are designed to go unnoticed.
Tips
- Turn on transaction notifications in your banking app. Knowing immediately is the single best protection, and it costs nothing.
- Keep a note of subscriptions and their merchant names. It removes most of this problem permanently.
- Never call a number from a text or email about a suspicious payment. That is itself a common scam — look the bank up independently.
Questions people ask
How do I identify an unfamiliar payment?
Search the exact merchant name from the statement. Most are parent companies or payment processors rather than fraud, and someone will have identified them online.
Will I get my money back if my card is used fraudulently?
Generally yes for unauthorised transactions, usually promptly, provided you report it. Contact the bank as soon as you notice.