That's absolutely terrible for you. I had my checking account hijacked and I know what kind of a pit of problems you're looking at. It took me over a year to finally clear it all up. But brilliantly, it was the bank which caught the fraud to begin with. Thank god for friendly neighborhood banking and tellers.

Years ago when I got my first debit card it was clear that using the card as a signature credit card was a bad idea. That money is debited directly out of your checking account. I almost never use the debit card in a situation where I need to sign a receipt instead of using a PIN. Checking account debit cards do not have the same fraud protection that credit cards do, and the laws governing bank/owner responsibility for bank account fraud vary wildly from state to state. In some states it is extremely difficult to get the bank to make any restitution on bank account fraud.

If a signature receipt is required or when ordering over the phone or the internet, use a credit card instead. Most credit cards have a owner liability limit of $50 in the event of fraud or theft. Save your debit card for electronic PIN transactions only.