HeldFunds An independent record of withheld funds

A charge from DROPBOX* on your statement

A line that reads DROPBOX* followed by a string of letters and numbers is a payment for a Dropbox plan, the file storage service. Dropbox says every card purchase shows as DROPBOX*(transaction ID), and the most common reason for a charge nobody remembers is a 30-day free trial that turned into a paid plan.1

The short answer

Copy the code after DROPBOX* and enter it in Dropbox’s charge lookup tool. It shows the email address of the account that paid.1 Sign in to that account and choose Cancel plan; the plan ends at the close of the billing period you have paid for.3 Dropbox says most payments are not refundable, except within 14 days in the EU, UK and Turkey.2 If the account is not yours or anyone’s you know, go to your bank.

What it looks like on a real statement

The State of Delaware publishes every purchase its employees make on state cards, with the merchant name as the bank received it. When we counted on 5 October 2026, 544 lines had a merchant name containing DROPBOX, from 27 June 2017 to 22 August 2026, from 27 state departments and school districts.5

Dropbox lines in Delaware’s card data, 2017–2026
What the statement said Lines When
DROPBOX*7Q9MDD7DZVVN (a star, then a 12-character code) 389 27 June 2017 to 22 August 2026, still in use
DROPBOX LY7DJSKZ9FXQ (a space instead of the star) 126 7 October 2019 to 1 August 2024
PAYPAL *DROPBOX, sometimes with a 9-character code 13 27 March 2019 to 19 March 2026; paid through PayPal
DROPBOX SIGN/HELLOSIGN 6 1 June 2023 to 21 July 2026; Dropbox’s e-signature product. One school paid $1,200 once a year
DROPBOX FAX MONTHLY 6 11 March to 11 August 2026; one school, $5 in the first month, then $19.99 on the 11th
DROPBOXINC, DROPBOXINCCADCARDSPRO, PAYPAL *BOOKDROPBOX 4 2018 to 2021; one or two lines each

The most common amounts were $11.99 (126 lines), $119.88 (63), $9.99 (42) and $199 (35).5 PAYPAL *BOOKDROPBOX may not be Dropbox at all; the data does not say who it is.

The code changes every month

Do not expect this month’s line to match last month’s. In the Delaware data the code is new on every payment, even on the same plan at the same amount. A state highway safety office paid $11.99 on the 10th of each month and saw a different code each time:5

Of the 515 lines that carry a 12-character code, 501 codes are different. The 14 repeats are either a refund, which carries the same code as the charge it reverses, or one payment that the bank split into two or three lines on the same day.5 In all 515 codes, the letters A, E, I, O and U and the digit 0 never appear.5

The star can also turn into a space. The state Department of Justice paid $90 on the 1st of each month: lines like DROPBOX 5HVN13GP955R from January to August 2024 and like DROPBOX*D8LNJVSDNC5T from September 2024 on.5 The code is the part that matters, with or without the star.

What Dropbox says about refunds

Dropbox’s refund page says: "In most cases, payments for Dropbox and Dropbox Dash subscriptions and team member licenses aren’t refundable." It sends billing errors to its support options. If you live in the EU, UK or Turkey, you can get a refund if you cancel a Plus, Family, Professional or Essentials plan within 14 days of purchase.2

Refunds do happen. Eight of the 544 Delaware lines are refunds. Six gave back the whole charge, $119.88 or $199, between 9 and 33 days after it was made; two gave back part of it: $175.01 of $199 after 44 days, and $37.43 of $99 after 227 days.5 The data does not say why any of them was refunded.

A chargeback, where your bank reverses the payment, turns the account into the free Dropbox Basic plan. On a team plan it puts the team in a "locked state" until an admin pays again or disbands the team.2 If you use the account, know that before you call the bank. If you never had one, it does not affect you.

Why a charge can come after you thought it was over

How to find it and stop it

  1. Find the account Copy the 12-character code from your statement and enter it in Dropbox’s charge lookup tool. If you are not signed in, it may ask for the last four digits and the expiry date of the card. It shows the account email and the transaction details. It does not work for payments made through PayPal; for those, contact Dropbox support.1 Then search that email inbox for messages from no-reply@dropbox.com.
  2. Stop the charges Sign in at dropbox.com, click your avatar in the bottom-left corner, choose Manage account, then Cancel plan at the bottom of the page, and follow the prompts. You get an email titled "Dropbox Plan will not renew". If there is no Cancel plan button, the plan was bought in a phone app store and is cancelled there.3 On a trial the button reads Cancel trial.4
  3. If you cannot get into the account, cancel by mail Dropbox accepts cancellation letters. Give your name, the account email (or the best email to reach you), and either the code from your statement or the card type, first 6 and last 4 digits, name on the card, date and amount of the last charge, and billing postal code. In the United States, Canada or Mexico, send it to Dropbox, Inc., P.O. Box 77767, San Francisco, CA 94107. Dropbox says a charge made before it processes the letter will not be refunded.3
  4. If nobody you know has the account, go to your bank Ask your bank to dispute the charge and ask what its deadline is. It depends on the bank, the card network and the reason, and missing it can end your options. Ask for a new card number too, and keep in mind that a renewal can follow a new card number.1

Is this a scam?

The name is real: DROPBOX* with a code is the format Dropbox itself describes, and the Delaware data alone has more than five hundred ordinary charges under it.15 That does not make every such charge yours. The lookup tool tells you which email paid; if it is not an address anyone in your household or work uses, someone else bought a plan with your card. Take it to your bank.

Why this page is on a site about held money

This site records payment companies that hold back money that belongs to someone else. Dropbox is not in the incident record; this page is here so that people searching for a name on a statement find the answer. Other software that renews by itself shows up as ADOBE *ADOBE, CANVA*, OPENAI *CHATGPT SUBSCR, MAILCHIMP *MISC and ZOOM.US 888-799-9666. Charges from Apple show as APPLE.COM/BILL. A Dropbox plan paid through PayPal is a PAYPAL * line. Other lines are in the table of statement names.

Sources

  1. Dropbox Help Center, "What is this Dropbox charge on my credit card?", updated 27 April 2026: the statement format, the lookup tool, expired cards, refunds. help.dropbox.com. Read on 5 October 2026. Archived copy of 5 October 2026. The lookup tool: dropbox.com/payments/find_receipt.
  2. Dropbox Help Center, "Can I get a refund on a Dropbox or Dropbox Dash subscription?", updated 29 October 2025: refunds, chargebacks, the EU, UK and Turkey. help.dropbox.com. Read on 5 October 2026. Archived copy of 5 October 2026.
  3. Dropbox Help Center, "Cancel or change an individual Dropbox plan", updated 10 October 2023: steps, end of billing cycle, uninstalling, expired cards, cancelling by mail. help.dropbox.com. Read on 5 October 2026. Archived copy of 6 October 2026.
  4. Dropbox Help Center, "Cancel a Dropbox trial", updated 10 October 2023. help.dropbox.com. Read on 5 October 2026. Archived copy of 5 October 2026.
  5. State of Delaware Open Data, State Employee Credit Card Transactions, fields "merchant", "trans_dt", "dept_name", "div_name" and "merchandise_amt". Lines containing DROPBOX. Queried and counted on 5 October 2026. The examples are the Office of Highway Safety (July to September 2019) and the Department of Justice (January 2024 to August 2026).

Every factual claim on this page is sourced below. Last verified against primary sources on 5 October 2026.