An Ultra Antivirus charge on your credit card or bank statement is almost certainly an auto-renewed subscription that a company called Pango Group inherited from Kaspersky after the U.S. government banned Kaspersky from operating in the country in 2024. Pango migrated millions of Kaspersky customers to its UltraAV product along with their existing billing information, which is why the charge appeared under an unfamiliar name. You can stop future charges by canceling auto-renewal in your UltraAV account, and you may be able to recover the money already taken through UltraAV support or a dispute with your bank.
Why Kaspersky Became UltraAV
On June 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a Final Determination under Executive Order 13873 banning Kaspersky Lab from selling or distributing cybersecurity products in the United States.1Federal Register. Final Determination Case No ICTS-2021-002 Kaspersky Lab Inc Kaspersky was allowed to keep providing virus updates to existing U.S. customers only until September 29, 2024.2Bureau of Industry and Security. Kaspersky Lab Inc Prohibition
Rather than leave millions of computers unprotected, Kaspersky handed its U.S. customer base to Pango Group, a Glendale, California cybersecurity company that sells UltraAV. On September 19, 2024, an automatic update pushed to Windows machines uninstalled Kaspersky and installed UltraAV in its place. No pop-up, no confirmation screen. Pango says it emailed affected customers in early September, but many people never saw or understood those messages.
The subscription terms carried over with the software. Your renewal date, billing cycle, and payment method on file all transferred to UltraAV, so when the next renewal came due, UltraAV charged the same card or account Kaspersky had used.
How Much You’re Being Charged
UltraAV lists its annual plan at $99.99 for the first year and $199.99 per year at renewal.3UltraAV Support Center. How Much Does Ultra Antivirus Cost Migrated customers were initially charged whatever their old Kaspersky rate had been.
Compare the amount on your statement to both numbers. If it matches your prior Kaspersky rate, it’s a migrated renewal at the legacy price. If it’s around $199.99, your subscription rolled over at UltraAV’s current renewal rate, which is roughly double the introductory price and the figure most people find alarming.
How to Cancel Auto-Renewal
Canceling stops future billing. It does not by itself refund a charge that has already posted.
- Find the “Welcome to UltraAV” email sent around September 2024. It contains a temporary password and your subscription ID. Search your inbox for “UltraAV” or “ultraantivirus.”
- Sign in to the My Account portal on the UltraAV website using the email tied to your original Kaspersky purchase.
- Open the billing or subscription section and switch off the auto-renewal toggle.
If the portal won’t cooperate, UltraAV support is reachable by email at support@ultraantivirus.com, through live chat on the website, or through the online contact form.4UltraAV Support Center. How Do I Cancel My Subscription Save whatever cancellation confirmation you get.
Once cancellation is confirmed, uninstall the software from your device if you no longer want it running.
How to Get a Refund From UltraAV
UltraAV’s refund policy has a catch that hits migrated customers hardest. The company offers a full refund within 30 days of purchase, but only if you bought the subscription directly through UltraAV after the transition. If your original purchase was made through Kaspersky before October 1, 2024, UltraAV says it can’t refund you because the money went to Kaspersky, not to them.5UltraAV Support Center. How Can I Get a Refund
The 30-day window does apply to charges that occurred after the transition, including your first UltraAV renewal. Contact support with your order ID and the date of the charge. Approved refunds typically take five to ten business days to appear on the original payment method. UltraAV does not mention prorated refunds after 30 days, so speed matters.
Disputing the Charge With Your Bank
If UltraAV refuses a refund, or the 30-day window has already closed, you can dispute the charge through your credit card issuer. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you have 60 days from the date the statement containing the charge was mailed to send a written dispute to the issuer’s billing inquiry address.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – 1666 Include your name, account number, the charge amount, and why you believe the charge is an error.
While the investigation is open, the issuer cannot collect the disputed amount or report you as delinquent for not paying it, and it must resolve the dispute within two billing cycles and no longer than 90 days.7FTC. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges Debit card protections are weaker and the deadlines shorter, so if the charge hit a debit card, call your bank right away rather than writing.
The strongest framing for an UltraAV dispute is that software you never chose was installed on your computer and a billing relationship was transferred to a company you never contracted with. Card issuers weigh whether the merchant had proper authorization to charge your account.
Federal Consent Rules You Can Cite
The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act requires any seller using negative-option billing to clearly disclose all material terms before collecting payment information, obtain express informed consent before charging you, and provide a simple way to stop recurring charges.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – 8403 Whether an email announcement plus a silent software swap meets that standard is a fair question. Many affected customers never gave express consent to UltraAV as a new merchant.
Citing ROSCA won’t automatically produce a refund, but it can strengthen a support request or a bank dispute. Saying plainly that you did not provide express informed consent to recurring charges from a company you had never done business with is a legitimate argument, and it’s the kind of language card issuers understand.
Deciding Whether to Keep It
In independent testing by AV-TEST in January and February 2025, UltraAV scored 5.5 out of 6.0 for both malware protection and system performance, with detection rates around the industry average and fewer false positives than most competitors.9AV-TEST. Test Point Wild UltraAV for Windows Respectable, not top of the field.
The real question is whether the software is worth $199.99 a year at renewal. Windows 10 and 11 include Microsoft Defender at no additional cost, and other paid products score higher for less money. If you keep UltraAV, mark your renewal date so the next charge doesn’t surprise you. If you don’t, cancel auto-renewal, pursue a refund where you’re eligible, and uninstall the software from your device.