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Alfred Wood

Ripped off.

Exposed.

You hear about it every day – identity theft, compromised credit card information, bad news that happens to other people. But this time it happened to me.

I mostly shop locally, I order only the occasional item on the Internet, and the only vacation island I've been to this winter is Peaks Island.

When I gave my card to the man at the ticket window at Casco Bay Lines on March 10 and said, "Book of tickets for Peaks please," he ran my card, looked puzzled and said "hold call."

Panic rose when he said, "I never got that prompt before. You better call your bank."

The whole ride home, I had that nausea that comes with uncertainty. I called my bank, and after many minutes of Muzak found out that, yes, my card had been suspended because of suspicious activity.

No, I hadn't been to Mexico during the weekend, I told the woman on the phone. She noted several charges in a Mexican town I had never heard of, and the names of the businesses gave no clue to the type of places they were.

This is where the unenlightened consumer (me) gets a lesson in fraud and bank policy.

It had been three days since the card was compromised, and the money had been deducted from my account -- as far as I can see, around $400.

The friendly voice on the phone informed me that I would receive a form in the mail.

Fill out the form, mail it back, and we will begin proceedings to retrieve your money, she said. When we recover it, it will go back in your account.

When? Generally 30 to 40 days.

She asked if I needed any credit extended to me in the meantime. No, a few hundred wasn't going to ruin me, thanks.

I ordered a new card, accepting the $19 fee for rush shipment -- three to five days.

I asked if they ever found the thief or where the security breach was. I was told it's often very hard to pinpoint it.

My faith in plastic was shaken. Would there be any threat of identity theft (would anyone want to assume my credit score)?

I thought of going back to cash. It wouldn't be so hard - right? At least I could still count on the ATM to be safe - right?

Remember the old days? Walk into your friendly local bank, proceed to your favorite teller, watch her count out those crisp $20s, and leave with your wallet fortified and ready for anything.

The problem with a wallet full of cash is that it seems to get spent faster.

No. The convenience of plastic is too much for any of us to give up.

After I activated my new card, I was a little cautious with the first purchase. A slight hesitation from the clerk - was it going to be rejected?

I use the card for everything I did before, and the feeling of uncertainty is fading away.

I know I am one of millions, and my loss was not enormous. We make so many leaps of faith with our personal information. If you participate in modern life, you can't avoid it.

I did something that I'd fallen out of the habit of doing: I got back online and looked at my bank account activity.

Of all the purchases I went over, I suspected the online purchase of a table saw part, or maybe the wait person who gave me a funny look. I started to wonder who had betrayed me.

I had stopped at a Hannaford store on March 7 to stock up for a trip to Millinocket, the only time I used the card that weekend.

On March 11, I was surprised to hear that Hannaford Bros. had observed a three-month security breach in its card transactions.

Out of all the card purchases I made, that's the last one I would have suspected.

They say that no names, addresses or Social Security numbers were taken. I believe them when they say they have a state-of-the art security system in place.

But I do wonder why such a long time passed before anything was said to the public.

I guess the lesson is that nothing is totally safe. Have faith, but keep a close eye on your bank account.