Credit Card Stolen - wicked pissed off

My wife and I are out eating dinner and she gets a call from her dad on her cell phone. She still had her parents home number listed as her contact for her credit card, and her CC company called them to ask about some 'unusual' charges made today and yesterday. Turns out somebody had somehow gotten her credit card number and made over $1800 worth of purchases in another state with it. Thank god she has a credit watch with the card and they caught it and called right away. The card's canceled now and the charges are going to be removed, so it hasn't hurt her credit, but dammit, I hate whoever did it. We think it may have happened at a hotel we stayed at for a friend's wedding, because that was the only time in the last month she's used her card. Makes me nervous using anything other than cash. Also, brings up a bunch of questions:

This ever happened to any of you?

How the hell does somebody do it without actually taking your card?

How do you monitor your credit, and how do you know if the thief got anything more than the credit card number?

My wife's going to file a police report once she gets the details about where it was used and what town/towns need to be called, but what else is there for us to do?

 

I'm pretty sure if they scanned the card they have all the information.

 

Funny thing once- I ran a clothing store in a mall- a couple odd looking guys come in, grab a bunch of stuff, drop it all on the counter and toss a credit card at me. I check it all in, run the card, and look at the guy's signature on the receipt- then it hit me. the Italian name on the card, and an African-American guy in front of me. And the cardholder's name? A guy I knew. Those guys ran out so freakin fast when I asked the guy when he stole the card!

I called my buddy and he had lost it the day before.

 

this happen to me twice. got a phone call saying that my credit card was being used at a gas station in Mexico and the bill came out to $2,500. the other time was when my debut card was getting small hits around the country. both times i got new cards and my entire money was refunded. i don't trust little mom and papas store with my cards and with online purchases i try to get reviews from them before i purchase. but if you never want this to happen your going to have to pay with everything with cash switch becomes a pain but if your willing to do it it's safer.

 

I "bought" 5 tickets to a matinee in SF after New Years 2 years ago... I never left SC and was working that day... Credit card company said they had the security code, my address, all my information They credited the $76 back and cancelled my card.

I took a road trip from SC to AZ and my card was locked when I was part way home. Had to call them and explain I was on my way home and that it was me making the charges.... I told her that as long as the charges came along I20, it was me. But if something came up from anyplace else, then it wasn't me and they could freeze the card.

The next year I just got a couple of phone calls about potentially fraudulent charges...

 

It's happened to me before, they racked up almost $1000 buying shit I would have never bought and my bank called me to check on the unusual purchases. I wanted to file a police report but the packet was 15 pages long and they needed information we couldn't possibly have come up with and they wouldn't accept it unless it was 100% complete. But in the end we got our money back and have been more careful with our online purchases, pretty much limiting it to ebay and Amazon. So far so good.