Melody,

The problem is that if someone does get your information they can clean out the account it's connected to. Unfortunately, a lot of institutions are offering incentives to get people to use debit cards, and when debit cards are used the advantages of a credit card are lost and there is a real chance a person can lose the money in their account.

For those who must use a debit card for one reason or another, don't connect it to an account with lots of money in it.

For people who are able to keep their credit card use under control and pay it off every month, there are great advantages to using one: a record of purchases, convenience, extra warrantee time, recourse in case of a bad purchase experience, limited to no liability if lost or information stolen, and even in some cases cash back periodically.

rose