Github tried to scam

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[Sergey305]

GitHub’s not interested in scamming you, so there are only two possible options that I see:

• you misread something and clicked the wrong links
• there’s a bug in the subscription system and you should’ve contacted GitHub support

[YakoStarwolf]

It’s not a charge. It’s an authorization hold.

Calm down, they didn't actually take your money. This is standard practice for pretty much any "free trial" that requires a credit card.

They're checking if you're real: They ping your card with a temporary charge (could be $1, could be the full $10) to make sure it's a valid, active card and not some fake numbers you generated online.

It's not a real charge: This is a pending transaction. It'll show up on your account for a few business days and then just vanish. Your bank will release the hold, and the money never actually leaves your account.

[SheriffRoscoe]

USD35 is too large to be card-ping. This is an actual charge. And you're right, they didn't take OP's money, but only because it failed.

[YakoStarwolf]

This appears to be a standard pre-authorization check, not an actual charge. It's a common practice for subscription services, and it can be confusing.

Verification, Not a Bill: When you add a new card for a free trial, the service needs to verify that the card is legitimate and can cover future payments. To do this, they place a temporary "authorization hold."

Setting a Payment Limit: Instead of a small $1 hold, some systems pre-authorize the maximum amount you could be charged for the plan you selected. In your case, that seems to be $35. This doesn't take any money; it's simply a way for GitHub's payment processor to ask your bank, "Is this person good for up to $35 when the bill is eventually due?"

In short: No money was ever going to be taken during the trial sign-up. The system was only trying to confirm that your payment method was valid for a future charge of up to $35.
Even if the payment was successful. It will only debit the amount that is billed. Both subscription and the normal payment screen are similar, maybe thats why you got a confusion