Before any purchases, run Avast Antivirus & Smart Scan. Have had both my cc jacked in last 2-weeks. I have them setup for email alerts, so caught it pretty fast.
I say change punishment for this crime to capital punishment: Impaling, Beheading, other?
People can steal CCs many ways. You can protect against some of them, but that only reduces the chances of it happening. Other areas are entirely out of your hands (like hackers getting into retailer databases). E-mail alerts are one good solution to stay on top of things.
You might want to consider locking your credit reports with the three credit reporting bureaus. This doesn't stop CC theft, but it does stop people from opening new accounts using your info.