[natickdan]

It happened to me and I was surprised to learn that my credit card was completely cloned, to include an exact duplicate of my name, account number and security code with magnetic strip.

My son is an IT security professional and he told me this is a much bigger problem than most people realize. There are black market web sites where our credit card information can be purchased for very little money. Once the thieves have this information, they can create a counterfeit credit card that is identical to the one in your pocket. Fortunately, for me, after several fraudulent charges, Visa flagged the charges as suspicious because they occurred in Detroit where I had never been.

In many cases these charges are authorized, so the lesson here is to make certain you monitor your credit card statements.