WHICH FINANCIAL INSTITUTION ARE U TALKING ABOUT, JUNIPER1? IS THIS SO CALLED FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WHICH IS NOW RETAINING YOUR DATABASE/INFORMATION YOUR BANK? AS I SEE IT THE BANK IS THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION AND YOUR INFO OR DATABASE IS NOT PUBLIC THROUGH YOUR FINANCIAL INTITUTION (YOUR BANK) AS A MATTER OF FACT WHEN YOU DO USE THAT 3 DIGIT CODE ON THE BACK OF YOUR CARD IT IS ACTING SOMEWHAT LIKE A FINGERPRINT OR A LONG STRINGED IDENTIFICATON CODE. THE PURPOSE IS TO NOT LET ANYONE GET AHOLD OF IT. EVEN IF THEY DO, ITS ALMOST MEANT TO BE TRACKED. I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT IF UR BANK DIDN'T KEEP RECORDS OF YOUR TRANSACTIONS FROM ALL ACTIVITY ON SAID CARD THEN HOW THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW IF YOU HAD ANY DISCREPENCIES IN THE FIRST PLACE

YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND IF ITS CRIMINAL BUT UNSTOPPABLE ITS PART OF THE GOVERNMENT. YOU SHOULD NOTICE THAT TRUMP, GATES AND THE REST OF THE RICH HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH BANKING FRAUD, CREDIT FRAUD, I D THEFT OR ANY OTHER PROBLEM THAT BEFALLS THE AVERAGE CITIZEN OF THIS GREAT COUNTRY

Juniper1, in the first place and this is to every one on here. NEVER, NEVER USE YOUR DEBIT CARD ON THE INTERNET. And it is just not the banks responsibility to take care of all of us it is our responsibility to keep watch on our credit cards and all of the business that we have. Good luck to all of us

i agree, but it takes we little people,to wake up CONTACTING YOUR REPRESENATIVES . WRITE, CALL YOUR SENATOR AND GOVENERAND YOUR AREA REPRESENATIVE. AND THAT IS JUST THE BEGINNING. GET INVOLVED. IT HAPPENED TO ME IN THE EARLY 2980'S. IDENTY THEFT. I DID NOT SIT ON MY REAR. IT TOOK THREE YEARS BUT THE TIME AND EFFORT WAS WELL WORTH IT. AND IF WE ALL EDUCATE OURSELVES AND ASK OUR GOVERMENT TO WAKE UP IN WAYS THEY CAN HELP US AND THEY CAN. BUT WILL THEY? NO. NOT UNTIL WE START THE BALL ROLLING. IF YOU WANTG NEW LAWS, WRITE AND CALL TO DICUSS WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM THE PEOPLE YOU ELECTED..OR DID NOT. IT SEEMS THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK IT WILL NOT HAPPEN. I SURE HOPE NOT BUT THE CHANCES ARE GETTING WORSE EVERY SECOND. AND IT TEARS ;YOUR LIFE APART. PLEASE WAKE UP AND PLEASE EVEN IF JUST A POST CARD TO YOUR GOVONER, SENATOR OR WHO YOU CHOOSE BUT DO IT. AND PLEASE CONTACT YOUR BANK AND READ THE FINE PRINT. SEE HOW WELL YOU ARE PROTECTED. AND EVERY NIGHT WHY NOT CHECK OUT YOUR ACCOUNTS BE THEY SAVINGS , CHECKING, ETC. BY THE WAY IT WAS THE ABOVE PEOPLE I MENTIONED THAT HELPED ME . EVERY ONE WANTS PROTECTION. RESEARCH IT. ACT ON YOUR INSTINCTS AND DO NOT GIVE UP. GET INVOLVED. IT IS VERY SCARY. AND I OWN ONE CREDIT CARD, USED SO RARLY. I PAY CASH EVERY PURCHASE I MAKE EXCEPT FOR THE CREDIT CARD USED SO VERY VERY RARELY. I HATE HAVING TO HAVE IT BUT IT IS PART OF MY JOB.

John, thats a great attitude, but does nothing to solve the problem of us responsible types who shop only with Debit cards, not Credit cards. I have had my ID and debit card stolen and the theives in Indonesia emptied my checking account through my DEBIT card.

Great comment and I agree 100%. Back in the old days we worked and saved until we could afford what we wanted to buy and we wrote checks to pay for what we bought or used cash. The only credit needed may be for a home or possibly a car but not for a tv, IPOD, etc. etc.

I pay my credit cards in full and never carry my check book or large amounts of cash. Doing away with credit cards is absurd. Why should I have to suffer because some clown can't budget or prioritize appropriately. Get a life!

I have money to pay cash for the things I want but choose to use credit for a number of reasons. One is convenience. Another is perks. I see no reason not to take advantage of offers that allow me to wait to pay for something without incurring finance charge as long as I pay for the item before the time expires. For example, I bought a computer using a 36 month same as cash promo. I kept my money in the bank and when the 35th month arrived, sent a check paying off the balance. I never incurred any finance charge. I also paid for a vehicle using a credit card and went from 6.25% APR to 2.9% for the life of the balance.Thus, saving on interest. Also, as the balance went down so did the payment which put me in the position to be able to pay the lower amount if the need arose without compromising my credit. Not everyone abuses credit. Some of us know how to make it work for us. I buy things on credit, pay the balance in full each month and earn points which I then convert to free gifts and gift certificates. If you don't like credit, then don't use it. But I love plastic and will continue to use it. I pay my balances in full, have excellent credit and earn freebies all while keeping my cash for emergencies.

Perhaps if they pass laws mandating a minimum of 10 years in prison plus as a condition of release pay back all the banks, individuals and businesses they ripped off, then all the ID theft will start going down fast***** Hey, haven't you figured it out yet Tom?Neither the Government Nor the Banks really give a Rats BEHIND about you and me, in fact even legitimate purchases can get you in trouble.. someone, somewhere will get your credit information, i have already had to replace my debit card 3 tiomes in the last 4 months.. there are programs that will give you a credit card number, then validate it for you and then the true owner gets an unhappy surprise.. I used to operate a BBS (the ORIGINAL WWW.. when everything went over the phone line.. games, files, membership Userids and passwords and if you knoew the SysOP you could get most anything you wanted.. programs, credit card generators, etc.. Have you noticed the new banking procedures? now the banks don't pay the smaller amounts first, they pay the larger amounts.. and if you are off by even a penny you are already in debt for over 30.00 EACH time a smaller amount gets paid because that is the banks new way of milking you dry.

We stopped using credit cards about 8 years ago. We cut up all of the cards we had and paid them off. We opened one account for emergencies (car repair, medical, etc.) that we could not pay cash or check for. This card was never used, however I recieved a call from the credit card company to question the charges. Someone had charged $5000.00 on my account!! Repudable company or not, people can steal your number. You are nieve the think that just because you trust the company they are not going to rip you off. The frued department told me that people just type in numbers until they find one that works and then they keep using it. The charges were made on line and the CCID # on the back of the card was not needed at the sights. Luckily the credit card company took care of all of the charges and closed our account. So you can be very careful and still get screwed.