Here's a recent FOX News story about the theft of personal information from a store chain on the East Coast:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338712,00.html 4.2 million credit card numbers exposed only found 3 months and several thousand victims later.
While you can't do much about what a store does with your information, there are a number of things you can do to get thief move on to their next victim, keeping your credit history safe:
1) Use a single card for day-to-day purchases, then:
-- keep watch on the transactions online
-- keep a low credit line (you may need to request it)
-- or make it a debit card with limited balance.
2) Use Cash or a Debit Card on Vacation or when traveling
3) Do not use a credit card at fine dining restaurants
Crooks are looking for credit cards with a large available credit lines -- they don't want to waste time with small purchases or raise alerts trying to figure out available credit. Keep the available balance below $500 or so and you'll keep your credit history safe - or even get them to move on to another more lucrative victim.
Sit down dining restaurants are hot-beds of credit card theft -- when the waiter or waitress takes your card its too easy to copy the info off the card for sale or use at a later time. About one-fourth of credit card thefts start in this low-tech manner.
GreenDotOnline has a low-fee debit card that you preload with cash - an excellent card to use for everyday purchases without over-exposing yourself. Thieves don't like these type of cards.
Better yet, most banks offer fee-free checking accounts, and the ability to transfer balances online. If you have two checking accounts with two debit cards, you can use a 'main' account to accept your direct deposit salary, write checks and pay bills, and the second account with a low balance for debit card purchases.
Do not use a credit line for overdraft protection - most banks will allow you to setup a savings account to use for overdraft protection. This also limits damage from check fraud.
Always keep a list in a secure place of all your credit card accounts and the corresponding phone numbers to report lost or stolen cards. That makes it easy in the event you become a victim. Be sure this list is secured.
If you are the victim of credit card theft, expect the thief to never get caught. Less than 5% of these folks are ever identified, and of those very few that actually get convicted, probation is the norm. No repayment of the money stolen or jail time ever happens, even with repeat offenders.
