This week I bought gift cards for myself to buy books online. It's easier, far more anonymous and secure than my credit cards. The book sellers I used to buy from, kept my credit card number stored on their sites to make it easier. No longer buy from them, as they stored my information perpetually on their site. So I closed those accounts.
One of the sites was hacked and information taken on thousands of customers a few years ago. My card was used at the time, or sold at the time to someone who bought things, that I was not liable for. So the bank changed my number, and suggested I use a low balance card only for online purchases. That credit card was also used by someone, who attempted to use it around the holidays thinking that the purchases would go unnoticed. It was immediately flagged by the bank and cancelled. Another card was issued to me.
As I buy so little online, books, movies, and seeds and sometimes food I cannot get locally. I will in future resort to using gift cards for purchases. Used to use Pay Pal, which was also compromised at one time. So I've given up on feeling safe with online purchases. Do you buy things online? And if so, have your credit cards or pay pal accounts ever been compromised?