Am I responsible for unauthorized charges if my credit cards are lost or stolen? | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2024)

FAQs

Am I responsible for unauthorized charges if my credit cards are lost or stolen? | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? ›

If your card is lost or stolen and used without your permission you are not held responsible for unauthorized charges above $50 as long as you report the card missing. When you use the card to make purchases, you will have a record of that spending.

Federal law says you're not responsible to pay for charges or withdrawals made without your permission if they happen after you report the loss. It's important to act fast. If you wait until someone uses your card without permission, you may have to pay some or all of those charges.

The Fair Credit Billing Act limits your liability to $50 if you report fraudulent charges within 60 days of receiving your credit card statement. This means that even if your credit card issuer doesn't offer zero-liability protection, you won't owe more than $50.

The Fair Credit Billing Act limits your liability if someone uses your card without your permission. If you contact the card issuer before someone uses your card, your liability is $0. If someone uses your card before you report it lost or stolen, your maximum responsibility is $50.

Notify the card issuer within 60 days from the receipt of your billing statement showing any unauthorized charges or billing errors. You may be responsible for no more than $50 of unauthorized charges. Your credit card number is stolen. Notify the card issuer as soon as you are aware that the card is missing.

What To Do If Credit Card Theft Happens to You. In the event that your credit card is stolen in the United States, federal law limits the liability of cardholders to $50, regardless of the amount charged on the card by the unauthorized user.

You may not be responsible for fraudulent charges if you report your card as lost or stolen and follow the instructions in your bank agreement. The bank usually pays for stolen credit card purchases. Sometimes, the merchant is responsible.

You can assert claims and defenses only if all the following are true: The disputed amount is over $50; The seller is in the same state as you or within 100 miles of your billing address (this requirement may not apply if you bought the item online or by phone);

Once you see an unauthorized transaction on your account and notify your financial institution, your bank or credit union has 10 days to investigate the claim. If the bank finds the error, they have one day to issue you a refund and then three more days to report their findings to you in writing.

The Electronic Fund Transfer Act provides important protections when consumers suffer unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts. For instance, so long as a person promptly notifies their bank that access to their account has been stolen, the law limits the person's losses to $50.

Which law limits your liability for a lost or stolen credit card? ›

Liability for Credit Card Fraud

If you report the loss or theft of your credit card (usually within 30 days), the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) offers protection. You are not responsible for fraudulent charges made after notifying your credit card company. For unauthorized charges, you might only be liable for $50.

Contact your bank immediately

Usually, the bank will have a team of investigators who look into it for you. If you claim the use of the card was not authorised by you, it is for your bank to prove otherwise. The bank may be able to cancel the payment or put the money back into your account.

You don't need to pay that charge while the dispute's in process. If you win, then the provisional credit becomes a full reversal of the charge. If you lose your dispute, then the charge goes back on your credit card bill. You'll be expected to pay it, just like any other transaction.

If there is unauthorized use of your card before you report it missing, the most you will owe for unauthorized charges on the card is $50. Many cardholder agreements say you are not responsible for any charges in this circ*mstance.

Federal law (the Fair Credit Billing Act, or FCBA) sets out a dispute process to help you get those mistakes fixed on credit cards and revolving charge accounts (like open-end credit accounts). Unauthorized charges. Federal law limits your responsibility for unauthorized charges to $50.

Under the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act, your liability is: $0 if you report the loss or theft of the card immediately and before any unauthorized charges are made. up to $50 if you notify the bank within two business days after you realize the card is missing.

If someone uses a stolen credit card to buy something from your business and the transaction is successful, there's a good chance the merchant will be responsible for the charges. Once the cardholder recognizes the fraudulent charge, they'll contact their bank to issue a chargeback.

No. You're not penalized with a reduction in your credit limit because you lost your card. Your credit limit may be reduced for other reasons—not using the card very much, or slow or late payment of your credit card bill, for example.