Image via Wikipedia

Unfortunately for him, I meticulously check every charge on my account every few days. It has been a big pain in the rear, and I nearly lost my checking account, but all is well now – and hopefully I can help you avoid the mistakes I made.

In the end I had to pay what my ex-roomie charged on the card because of one simple mistake. About a week before he stole the card, I let him use it to buy gas for his truck. Now this wouldn't be a big deal if he hadn't let the charge go through debit instead of credit.

You see, if the person who charged your card fraudulently was previously given permission to make a charge with your pin (and that charge is not revoked), then the bank is not liable – which means you are liable. The bank could be really nice and pay the charges for you, but I doubt they would. Wachovia didn't, and they have been exceptionally good to me over the years.

You could simply not tell the bank that fact, but don't count on the other guy keeping quiet about it. I mean, this is fraud we're talking about. I'm not sure what happens to a person's credit or banking ability once they've been convicted of fraud, but I doubt it's anything good.

So, lesson learned – never ever give someone your pin. Even if there is no chance they could possibly memorize it, allowing someone else to use your card with the pin means if they steal your card later, you won't have a legal foot to stand on.

You can find out more about Patricia Mayo and her other projects at Mayobrains.com or ComHacker.org.