first time victim of credit card fraud

I've had 3 cards closed (discover twice, boa once) because of fraudulent activity. Twice was caught by the banks, once by me. That is a good sign that chase caught it as early as they did.

How did it get stolen? Possibilities are endless. Hackers could have swiped it from a database where you order food or amazon (although a breach at amazon would have been on the news). Maybe a virus on your computer.

No, should not affect your credit history. As you mentioned, chase caught this. They will do their own investigation and you will not be liable for the charges.

Possibly. Depends how this # was snatched.

Run a virus scan on your computer. Change all your banking passwords and monitor all your other accounts closely for the next few days.

I was pretty distraught the first time it happened to me, but it's really not that big of a deal if it is something that is caught and resolved quickly.

It was probably one of the food orders, if you're ordering from local restaurants.

Your credit history is fine, and your other cards are probably safe. Since you caught it early it's not going to be much of a hassle.

For the future you might consider using disposable CC#s if one of your cards has that feature available. If I'm paying on a site I don't fully trust I use BoAs Shopsafe(tm) system that creates a unique card number that once used will only work with that one merchant, and I can set (or change) the dollar limit and expiration date. You could use Shopsafe for food orders over the phone, but if they require you to show the card at pickup or delivery you need to use a real physical card.

You are not liable for fraudulent charges. Nothing will happen to you or your credit. The only time I every use virtual CC #s is when I'm bidding on priceline (so I can see if my bid was accepted or not). Other than that I am fully protected by my card company.

Have you ordered from meritline.com recently? Man, never friggin again!

Stealing a CC# is insanely easy to do. I've never done it but seriously, think how many times you hand your CCard to someone and they walk away with it and then come back...

Quote : Any precaution I should do for now?

Just check your accounts regularly, daily if not weekly. If you see a charge you didn't make call the bank/card company immediately. Numbers get stolen even from the most diligent of us, the main thing is to stop a run on one.

Yeah, the easiest way to get a CC# stolen is just using it at restaurants. They take your credit card to the back, and either jot down the information or use a skimmer. Not very hard to do.

Skimming is another way of doing it, generally done at a Gas Station or any other place they have the credit card machines to pay for an item. They place their credit card reader on top of the actual one, so then they can read your card info, and you are none the wiser. The way to avoid this, is either pay inside or if it looks funny check the other ones to see if they look the same. While this isn't fool proof, it is usually a decent check. Oddly enough I remember ( a year ago or so) Shell stations announced they were employing a very high tech method skimming prevention... stickers.

Hacking/Virus is done less, but hits more people.. a lot more people.

It happens all the time, and thankfully the bank caught the issue fairly quickly. I have had fraud alerts put on my CC by the banks pretty quickly. Amex has called me twice when fraud activity was on my card. Chase Visa has been good, and so has Wells Fargo in return the funds. You will get some false alerts sometimes, especially if you move to another state or travel a lot for work. Once htey see a pattern of your travel it will become less.

Quote from LivninSC : Have you ordered from meritline.com recently? Man, never friggin again! Stealing a CC# is insanely easy to do. I've never done it but seriously, think how many times you hand your CCard to someone and they walk away with it and then come back...

seriously - everyone believes that the internet is the biggest culprit for fraud..... even though they'll give a random stranger their card to "go in the back" and charge it..... and whatever else they please.

If you eat out at a restaurant the waiter/waitress has your CC alone for several minutes. Very easy for them to steal the number as well as the 3 digit code on the back.

Use mint.com to watch all your accounts regularly (I do it once day)

your credit card number was swiped in a bar or eatery