angel38- No thief "tests" the waters- they grab and run! My mil had her card stolen- literally stolen out of her purse while she was talking to a "nice" lady who needed help. By the time she got home 20 minutes later, the cc company was on the phone asking her about charges. The thieves had charged over $1000 worth of electronic stuff and they were trying to buy a computer. Of course, everything was reversed. Last year, my husband and I went to Italy. Before we left, I bought train tickets for Venice to Florence etc. That action triggers my cc fraud dept and they immediately suspended my card until I called them and said"what happened? the Chinese restaurant refused my card?". They told me that they were suspicious of the Italian charges. I thanked them.
