[Vettezuki]

I'm sorry to hear about this and hope it resolves in your favor.

I never use a debit card for exactly this reason. If it's a cash transaction I use a check or actual cash, but I'm old fashioned. I have had an Amex number stolen once, but it was more or less instantly caught by Amex, stopped and the card replaced immediately. (Separate issue, but Amex has by far the best customer service of any card company I've had to deal with.)


So my card strategy is:
- don't use a debit card except to pull cash from the ATM at my bank (minimized risk)
- use checks or cash for cash transactions
- use a cc (rewards cards are great, like Costco cash back Amex) as a cash substitute
- Put "See Photo ID" in signature space on card. (This obviously only stops cases where someone has stolen your actual card and the Vendor bothers to check the signature space, but that happens too. In Europe, at least the UK, you will NOT be reimbursed for fraudulent transactions on your CC if stolen.)