Muscle booster unauthorized charges
Muscle booster apple app is charging me for their app after I cancelled. Is this something that the community has recently seen?
iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 18
That shows the subscription was made directly with the developer on their website and since it shows Apple Pay was used, that means it also required you to double click the side button with the amount showing on the screen, followed by authorization with FaceID/TouchID or Passcode. This is not something that can be done by accident and anyone else the knows your Passcode is given authorization to use your device including purchases. On the website, they have a free trial that can be started and as always free trials will become a subscription if not cancelled. You were likely directed to the website from a Social Media post or website advertisement. They also show their refund policy at the link below. Here is what they provide for cancelling your subscription:
- If your purchase was made (free trial was received) directly on the Website:
- please log into your account at https://muscle-booster.io/ → tap “Subscriptions” or “Manage Subscriptions” → tap “Cancel Subscription” or
- submit a cancellation request using the form;
https://legal.muscle-booster.io/page/terms-of-use#section10.2a
While they do have an app, this charge is not an in-app purchase that is managed by Apple. You can tell because you did not see the subscription in the link provided in an earlier post to cancel subscriptions managed by Apple and also the description of the charge would show that it was billed from Apple. Just because a company has an app does not mean that subscriptions must be billed and managed by Apple. For example, Netflix, YouTube, Walmart, Hulu, etc, all have apps where you can also start a subscription directly with that company on their website and Apple has no means to cancel that subscription.
Your Apple Card is a credit card that does offer the same fraud protections like any other credit card and the bank that manages the card is Goldman Sachs. As with any Credit Card dispute, you can dispute a charge if fraud occurs, but in this case it may be hard to show that it was a fraudulent charge since authorization for the transaction was granted by either FaceID or your Passcode. Giving your Passcode to someone else does not shield you from the purchases they make.
Before disputing any Credit Card purchase, first contact the merchant to request a refund and in your case to cancel a subscription to avoid any further charges. If unsuccessful, then you can use this link to dispute the charge with Goldman Sachs. The dispute process is always the last option if you are not able to resolve the issue with the merchant where the purchase was made.
How to report a transaction issue or dispute a charge to your Apple Card - Apple Support