We have written in the past that your credit card is safer to use in most transactions than your debit card because you have protection against unauthorized charges. Under federal law, your liability for these charges is capped at $50 if someone steals your credit card and uses it. Even better in today's online world: if someone just gets your card number and uses it, your liability is zero.

With debit and ATM cards, it's very different - and confusing. These fall under different regulations, since they are electronic funds transfers, rather than credit transactions.

As this FDIC summary explains:

• If your card is stolen and used, your maximum liability is $50 if you report it within two days.
• If you don't report it within two days, your max liability is $500.
• If your card number (but not your card) is used, you will not be held responsible for any of it, provided you report it within 60 days. And most people will report it as soon as they see it on their statement.

By the way, these debit and ATM card rules also apply to any electronic transaction. So if someone just has your checking account number and uses it for an fraudulent transaction, that is covered by these rules.