I was reading the on-line paper today and followed a link that lead to a link...
Anyway I saw this:
http://economy.ocregister.com/2011/03/0 ... ard/50567/Q: I recall that an individual used to only be responsible for up to $50 of fraudulent activity on credit cards. Is that still true and does it depend on the card?
A. If you have a lost or stolen credit or charge card you need to immediately call the credit card company. By law, once you report the loss or theft, you have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges and your maximum liability under federal law is $50 per card.
An ATM or debit card loss or theft is different than a charge card. Your liability under federal law for unauthorized use of your ATM or debit card depends on how quickly you report the loss. If you report your card as missing before someone has made any unauthorized charges you are not held liable. However, if the charges occurred before you reported the card missing your liability will be determined on how quickly you reported the loss.
For example, if you report the loss within two business days after you realize your card is missing, you will not be responsible for more than $50 for unauthorized use. However, if you don’t report the loss within two business days after you discover the loss, you could lose up to $500 because of an unauthorized transfer.
The moral of the story is to report immediately any lost or stolen credit cards — anything that is plastic!