Stolen Account Information

For a while I've been really paranoid about our debit card number being stolen. I heard on the news a month ago that credit card skimmers were found in over 150 gas stations in Utah. The skimmers were hidden inside the gas pumps and recorded card information and pin numbers on all cards swiped at that pump. There is no visual way to know, as a consumer, if the pump has a skimmer inside. I immediately stopped using my debit card at the pump after I heard about this and started using my unused credit card that was just collecting dust. They say that even if you use your debit card as credit, you have an easier time disputing charges on a regular credit card if there are unauthorized charges.

Chris has been working in Denver for the past month and I've been having him use the credit card on purchases which is nothing out of the ordinary since we always use the credit card while we travel. I reviewed our credit card transactions and noticed that there are a few extra transactions for a restaurant that we went to while I was there. Long story short, it's some kind of credit card error that I'm now disputing with Mastercard. If I was paranoid before about credit card fraud, then I'm super paranoid now.

How often do we go to restaurants and hand over our debit/credit cards to the server and have them disappear for a period of time without our supervision. We are placing a lot of trust in that person. One of the managers I work with said a friend of his had his debit card number stolen at Walmart by the checker who told his wife that there was something wrong with the card and he had to swipe it himself. While she wasn't paying attention, he had a skimmer hidden that he used to record her card information. This could also happen anytime you go through a drive up window. Bottom line, I'm not going to switch to cash because it's just too hard for me to track our spending, but I'm not going to risk someone getting a hold of my debit card and emptying my bank account and then be broke while we dispute the charges. As much as I hate using our credit card, it looks like it's going to be my best option. Luckily we are really good with our money and have no problem paying our balance in full every month.

Thoughts?