Tip Shakedown

[Boyd]

Just get rid of that debit card and get a no-fee credit card. There is nothing good about debit cards at all. With a credit card, there's no way that a hacker can directly access your funds, you can contest any fraudulent charges. You can get an ATM-only card for withdrawing cash, that's what I have (although PNC charges a small annual fee for this). But I agree, you need to have more than one bank account, just in case.

 

[46er]

With a CC, law limits your exposure to $50 if you report it within the time frame. A debit card's protection is not that good, especially if you fail to notice an unauthorized charge.

And, whether you’re victim to credit card fraud or debit card identity theft, federal law dictates your level of liability.

The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) caps the liability of credit card users at $50. Most credit card issuers take this a step further and don’t charge cardholders anything for fraudulent charges. But even if your card issuer doesn’t offer that protection, the FCBA says you’re not responsible for any unauthorized charges if you report the card lost before it’s used.

This limited liability is one of the main reasons experts recommend using credit cards — especially for online purchases.

Debit card fraud protection, on the other hand, is covered by the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) — and protection varies.

Here’s what you could owe, based on when you report a debit card loss:

• Before any unauthorized purchases are made: $0
• Within two business days of learning about the loss: up to $50
• More than two days after the loss: $500
• More than 60 days from when your statement is sent: the entire amount

 

[old jersey girl]

The bluetooth version has already been hacked. Usually when a new method is released the hackers target it until someone succeeds, very much a game with them. Personal due diligence for one's accounts is probably the most reliable method.

Yup.

 

[Boyd]

"If the Joker’s Stash claims are true, the Wawa hack would be among the biggest payment-card breaches in history, behind the 2014 breach of Home Depot, which lost personal data for 50 million customers, and the 2013 breach of Target stores, which lost 40 million sets of data."

Skimming heist that hit convenience chain may have compromised 30 million cards

Point-of-sale machines at ~850 Wawa locations were infected for 9 months.

arstechnica.com