New Poll: Credit Card Number Theft

So I got a phone call from a woman named Terry at Coach.com this morning. She wanted to discuss my recent online purchase of $442. Um. First of all, I have never heard of Coach.com (yes, I know I am fashion-hopeless), and secondly, I most certainly did NOT purchase anything from them!

Apparently, someone somehow got my credit card number and had a little fun yesterday - they stopped at iTunes, Microsoft.com, and finally at Coach.com. The fraud division at Coach was tipped off by the fact that the telephone number given on the order was not the same as the number associated with my credit card. And the order was supposed to be shipped to Miami, FL. Yikes.

So I called and reported the theft to my card issuer, and they've canceled the card and will send me a new one tonight. They'll credit me for the fraudulent charges, and hopefully go after the dorks in Miami who tried to buy expensive handbags.

BTW - I am very glad that I use a credit card and NOT a debit card tied to my bank account when shopping online. Because with a debit card, you don't have the same fraud protection - the criminal could very well empty your entire checking account before you find out it's happened. Just a little FYI there.

Have you ever had your credit card numbers stolen online? How safe do you feel banking/buying things online?