Why Did Experian Charge Me $24.99?

If a receipt for the $24.99 charge is missing, it's likely buried in your email inbox.

1. Search your inbox for keywords 'Experian,' 'receipt,' 'payment,' or '24.99'. Include the spam and trash folders, as automated receipts sometimes land there.
2. Filter by date range covering the recent months when the charge appeared; Experian usually sends receipts within 24 hours of billing.
3. Open any matching message and verify the amount, date, and last four digits of the card used. A legitimate Experian receipt will list 'Experian' as the merchant and show the $24.99 amount.
4. If you find no receipt, add 'experian.com' to your safe‑sender list and request a new copy through the Experian contact page. The receipt you receive will help you match the bank descriptor in the next step.

Look at the exact wording on your bank or credit‑card statement; Experian typically tags its $24.99 charge with 'EXPERIAN', 'EXP*', or a similar code, while a partner or unrelated merchant will show a different name. Matching that descriptor to the receipt you may have missed tells you who actually billed you.

• Log into your online banking, locate the $24.99 entry, and copy the full merchant text (e.g., 'EXP*EXPCCU' or 'EXPERIAN.COM').
• Open any Experian email receipt and compare its 'Paid to' line with the statement text; use Experian transaction descriptor guide for known formats.
• If the descriptor mentions a brand other than Experian (such as 'SCORESTAR' or 'COUPONDEAL'), the charge likely came from a third‑party partner.
• Record the exact descriptor, date, and amount; you'll need these details when you later cancel the service or dispute the charge.

You likely hit Experian's 'Start Free Trial' button, entered payment info, and the trial automatically rolled into the $24.99 monthly subscription. The site often hides the upcoming fee until the trial ends, so the charge appears suddenly on a recent statement.

Check the Experian receipt you may have missed (see the email‑review step) and match the bank descriptor 'EXPERIAN' to confirm the source. If the charge shows up in the past few months and you recall signing up for a credit‑monitoring tool, the subscription is the probable cause and sets up the next scenario where a free trial auto‑renews into a $24.99 charge.

The $24.99 charge appears because Experian's free trial automatically enrolls you in a recurring subscription unless you cancel before the trial ends.

• Review the welcome email or trial confirmation; it usually states a '30‑day free trial, then $24.99 per month' and includes the renewal date.
• Compare the bank descriptor (often 'EXPERIAN US' or 'EXP CREDIT') with the email to confirm the source.
• Log into your Experian account, locate the 'Subscriptions' or 'Billing History' tab, and verify the renewal status and next billing date.
• If the trial has already converted, note the exact charge date; Experian typically processes the auto‑renewal within 24 hours after the trial expires.

If the auto‑renewal matches your activity, the next step is to cancel the subscription and request a refund, as detailed in the following section.

• You likely clicked 'Buy one‑time FICO score' on Experian's website, which costs $24.99 and triggers an email receipt within 24 hours.
• The $24.99 charge shows on your statement as 'EXPERIAN' (or a similar descriptor); matching it to the receipt confirms it's the same purchase.
• This is a single‑use product, so it does not renew unless you later enroll in a subscription.
• If the receipt is missing, log into your Experian account, open 'Recent orders,' and download the PDF; the order number should match the $24.99 line item.
• For an unauthorized charge, contact Experian support page with the order reference and request a refund.

If a $24.99 charge lists Experian as the merchant but you never signed up, a third‑party vendor probably billed you under Experian's name.

A third party is any company that uses Experian data or branding to sell a service - credit‑monitoring apps, debt‑relief programs, or even fraudulent sites. They process payments through Experian's merchant ID, so your statement and receipt read 'Experian' even though the actual provider is different. This can happen when you click a link in an email offering a free credit score, or when a partner service automatically enrolls you after a trial.

Typical scenarios include: an app that partners with Experian and charges a monthly fee, showing 'Experian' on the bank descriptor; a debt‑help company advertising 'Experian‑verified' scores and posting Experian on the receipt; a phishing page that copies Experian's logo and sends a fake receipt to look legitimate.

In each case, matching the charge to the email receipt (see 'check your email for an Experian receipt you missed') helps confirm the source before moving on to the next possibility - someone may have used your card directly.

If you see a $24.99 charge and suspect someone used your card to buy Experian services, it most likely indicates an unauthorized transaction. The charge could stem from a stolen payment detail, a family member's accidental purchase, or a malicious actor posing as Experian. Because the charge appears on your statement, it passes the 'match your bank descriptor' test from the previous section, but it still may not be a legitimate purchase you authorized.

Verify the transaction, then act quickly. Log into your Experian account (or create one) and look for a receipt or service record matching the $24.99 date; if none exists, call Experian's fraud line via their Experian fraud reporting page. Ask them to block the card, issue a refund, and investigate the source.

Simultaneously, file a dispute with your bank and monitor your credit reports for any other unexpected activity. Addressing this now prevents the issue from spilling into the 'currency conversion' scenario discussed next.

If your statement marks the $24.99 charge as 'foreign,' Experian likely billed in U.S. dollars while your card is issued in another currency; the processor then converted the amount at the current exchange rate and added a 1‑3 % foreign‑transaction fee, which shows up as a $24.99 line item. (See Experian's foreign‑transaction‑fee policy for details.)

If the descriptor includes a code such as 'EXP‑INTL,' the charge may still be domestic - your bank simply categorizes Experian's subscription under a foreign‑transaction label. In this scenario the $24.99 is the same Experian service discussed in the earlier 'accidentally signed up' and 'auto‑renewed trial' sections, not a result of currency conversion.

To stop the $24.99 charge and get your money back, cancel the Experian service and submit a refund request immediately.

1. Find the email receipt or log in to your Experian account to copy the transaction ID and date.
2. Open the Experian subscription cancellation page, select the active plan, and click Cancel; confirm when prompted.
3. Call Experian Customer Care at 1‑800‑692‑7872 or start a live chat; quote the receipt, state you want a full refund for the $24.99 charge, and ask for a reference number.
4. Screenshot the cancellation confirmation and note the case number for future reference.
5. If the refund does not appear on your statement within 7‑10 business days, return to the 'dispute the $24.99 charge with your bank' section for the next steps.

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Sarah logged into Experian's 7‑day free trial, scanned her credit report, and spotted a hard inquiry from a retailer she never visited. She called Experian's fraud‑alert line (or used the online fraud‑alert form) right away, which instantly placed a fraud alert on her file and prevented further misuse.

Prevent future $24.99 surprises by switching to free credit alternatives that give you the same monitoring without a subscription, for example start with the free annual report at AnnualCreditReport.com, add a complimentary credit‑monitoring app such as Credit Karma or Mint, enable real‑time email or push alerts for any Experian‑related activity, place a credit freeze or fraud alert if you suspect misuse, opt out of Experian marketing mail to avoid accidental sign‑ups, use a disposable virtual card for any trial that mentions Experian and delete the card details before the trial ends, and regularly review the 'Experian' line on your bank statement to catch unauthorized renewals early;

each step keeps your score visible, stops hidden $24.99 charges, and costs nothing.