If you spot a charge on your credit card that’s wrong — a double charge, something you never ordered, a scam — you can officially dispute it. When you do, your credit card company is legally required to acknowledge your dispute in writing within 30 days of receiving it. Then they have up to 90 days to fully investigate and resolve the issue. This comes straight from federal consumer protection rules.
Debit cards work a little differently. If someone made an unauthorized transaction on your bank account or debit card, you can dispute that too. But the timelines shift depending on the situation. Your bank generally has 45 days to resolve the issue — but that can stretch up to 90 days if the transaction happened in another country, within 30 days of you opening the account, or was a debit card point-of-sale purchase. One important heads-up: if your bank asks you to follow up your dispute in writing and you don’t do it within 10 business days, they’re not required to temporarily credit your account while they investigate — though they still must investigate.
Here’s what to actually do. As soon as you notice a problem, contact your bank or credit card company. Write down the date you contacted them and what you said. If they ask you to follow up in writing, do it — and do it fast. Keep copies of everything. For credit cards, ask your card issuer whether you can hold off paying the disputed amount while the investigation is happening, since rules can vary.
The single most important thing to remember: don’t just ignore a suspicious charge or assume it’ll fix itself. You have real legal protections here, but they only kick in if you actually use them. Act quickly, put things in writing, and keep records.