[windeguy]

For those of us that buy something online and have it shipped, many credit cards now offer a safer method for buying online using a virtual account number. One company calls this "Shop-safe" and another calls it "virtual account numbers". These numbers are generated for one time use and have a date limit and a maximum dollar value for each number generated. At least it is one way to keep someone from getting your actual account number.

Also check with your card company to see if they will send you an email or a text message to your phone any time a charge is made. Some US based companies are doing that now.

I recently had credited card charges made at gasoline stations in Canada. I haven't been to Canada in 2 years, but the thieves got my number from somewhere, maybe even sitting on it since the last time I was there. There is no way to know how they got the number and started using it. There are many ways that people are dishonest with credit information. In my case I had to cancel the old card, get a new one, wait for an affidavit that must now be notarized by a US Notary and returned to the credit card company and wait for them to investigate and remove the charges. All this is much harder to do while here in the DR.

As for renting a car in the US, it is practically impossible to do so without using a credit card. So there is one place that your account information is taken and a potential place for misuse.