A curea.shop charge is a $39.99 recurring subscription fee that appears on card statements as “CUREA.SHOP HOMER GLEN IL” or “CUREA.SHOP 312-2484940 IL,” and it is tied to Pupa Paws, an online pet-product seller at pupapaws.com. Consumers who bought an inexpensive dog toy or bowl through a social media ad report being enrolled in a monthly “Pupa Paws+” membership without their knowledge, with the $39.99 charge appearing about two weeks after the original order and repeating every month until the card is disputed or replaced.1BBB Scam Tracker. BBB Scam Tracker Report 1313366
How the Charge Shows Up
The complaints follow a consistent script. A shopper sees a Pupa Paws ad on Instagram for a cheap pet item, usually priced between $14.99 and $16.99, and buys it through pupapaws.com. The initial product charge posts under one descriptor. Roughly two weeks later, a separate $39.99 charge from “CUREA.SHOP” hits the same card, and it recurs monthly.1BBB Scam Tracker. BBB Scam Tracker Report 1313366
Consumers describe the recurring fee as a “VIP membership” or “monthly membership” they never agreed to and for which they receive no services. One buyer who ordered a $14.99 dog toy said the item arrived in a plain box with no logo or instructions and had to contact the card company to stop the billing.2BBB Scam Tracker. BBB Scam Tracker Report 1241690 Another said an attempt to email the company produced an error message.3BBB Scam Tracker. BBB Scam Tracker Report 1258903 A complaint filed in June 2026 reported $134.96 in total losses; the shopper had emailed pupapaws.com to cancel and a further “Curea.Shop” charge still went through.1BBB Scam Tracker. BBB Scam Tracker Report 1313366 A ScamPulse report from Sandusky, Ohio, describes the same $16-bowl-to-$39.99 sequence.4ScamPulse. PupaPaws Reviews
The two different billing names, one for the product and another for the subscription, make the fee hard to trace back to the original order. Across every documented complaint, consumers say nothing at checkout indicated they were signing up for anything beyond a single purchase.
How to Stop the Charge and Get Your Money Back
The fastest and most effective step is to call your credit card issuer, report the $39.99 charge as unauthorized, and ask for the card to be blocked or replaced so no further charges can post. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recommends replacing a compromised card entirely rather than trying to cancel a specific merchant.5Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Credit Card and Debit Card Fraud
To preserve your full rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act, follow the phone call with a written dispute to the issuer’s billing inquiry address within 60 days of the statement date on which the charge first appeared. Include your name, account number, and a description of the charge, and send the letter by certified mail with a return receipt.6Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Dispute a Charge on My Credit Card Bill The issuer must acknowledge your complaint in writing within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days, and while the investigation is open it cannot report the disputed amount as delinquent or try to collect on it. You can withhold payment on the disputed portion during that period, but you still owe the rest of the bill.
Federal law caps your liability for unauthorized credit card charges at $50, and most major issuers waive even that for fraud.6Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges Debit card protections are narrower and depend on how quickly you report the problem, which is another reason to call the bank the day you notice the charge.
Beyond the dispute, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at IdentityTheft.gov and with your state attorney general’s consumer protection division. State attorneys general track patterns of illegal business practices through their complaint portals, and a sufficient volume of reports can prompt a formal investigation.8North Carolina Department of Justice. File a Complaint
Why These Charges May Be Illegal
The pattern of a cheap product followed by an undisclosed recurring fee falls within what the FTC calls negative-option marketing. The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) requires internet sellers using negative-option features to clearly disclose the material terms, obtain the shopper’s express informed consent before charging, and provide a simple way to stop the recurring charges. ROSCA remains in force, and the FTC continues to bring cases under it against sellers accused of hiding subscription terms or making cancellation difficult.9Federal Register. Negative Option Rule
The FTC’s broader “click-to-cancel” rule, finalized in late 2024, would have imposed additional consent and cancellation requirements, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated it on July 8, 2025, in Custom Communications, Inc. v. FTC, finding the agency had skipped a required preliminary regulatory analysis. The FTC filed a new advance notice of proposed rulemaking in January 2026 to restart the process.10FTC. Negative Option Rule
Whether regulators will act against Pupa Paws specifically is not something the public record answers. Filing a complaint with the FTC and your state attorney general adds to the record agencies use to identify targets, and the card dispute is what actually gets your money back.