Years ago, I had my credit card stolen. Not from my wallet, but from across the room at a conference.

Thrives can steal your credit card info if your card does not have a chip on it. Called EMV or chip and PIN technology, US retailers and some banks are slow to convert. If your debit card does not have a chip, call today and tell them you want a replacement with a chip on it. Retailers that don’t have EMV machines are liable if something goes wrong.

I stopped carrying that magnetic stripe only card and now only carry chipped cards where possible. In the case of my Costco membership card, with only a magnetic stripe, I protect it with tin foil.

That’s right.

You can cover a thin piece of cardboard or 2 with tin foil. Make sure it is near the magnetic strip side.

Always check your charges for odd things.

In my case, the theif bought about $100 worth of baby things from Best Buy (handheld carpet shampooer) and Babies R Us. I even had the shipping address and reported it to my card institution.

If too much time had lapsed before I caught the problem, I would have called Zander, my ID insurance protector service.

Aluminum foil to foil those cyber thrives!