I put the spaces in so it wouldn't create a hyper link.

No idea what website or service lead to the hacking, if it can be called that, but I just got a call from the my credit card provider and they said there was an odd transaction made on the card at 1AM this morning for that website and apparently the transactions have appeared on other cards. It's only for a small amount (to try to go unnoticed) which is apparently a "tester transaction" and if the tester transaction is successful then obviously they will then put through larger transactions.

So now my current credit card has been locked down and I'm being sent a new one, which means 3 or 4 days without being able to use my credit card. Fortunately my wife's card is not affected as we almost never use it for online transactions.

I'm going to have to seriously rethink my approach to paying for things online now.

It was a legit call from my bank, because I can no longer view my credit card when logging in to my bank account online.

Make sure all websites you are buying from are safe.

why when:

A) they caught the fraudulent activity before the transaction went through

B) the banks accept the risk of credit cards.  if a fraudulent charge gets through and you contest it they will give you your money back.  just make sure the check your charges every month or two.

credit cards are really about as safe as it gets.  if your debit card had that charge you'd be SOL right now.

Nah, even your debit card will allow you to contest, it's just a more vigorous process. I had someone who didn't even have a name, just a telephone number, push through a $40 transaction on my card years ago. When I called, they said they didn't know who the charge was for, they just processed them, and i looked the number up online to find a bunch of people with the same story, so called the bank and they sent me a form, where i supplied those details, and had it sorted. Much more circuitous than the time about $650 in money orders from a grocery store in another state showed up on my credit card, and the matter was solved in a day.

Because it's a pain in the arse to be without credit card for 4 days. I'm thinking I should use Paypal when the option is there for online payments.

I've never ordered anything at all online,for this very reason.