The riskiest places to swipe your debit card

As I — and others — found out firsthand, swiping your card at the gas pump is a huge no-no.

Like an ATM, they can be hacked with skimmers. External, or overlay, skimmers fit over the card reader and steal your data and PIN. Internal skimmers can be ultra thin skimmers that fit inside the card reader, or simple cables that run between the card reader and main board and record card data (wiretapping).

"A consumer may likely have no indication that they used an altered dispenser until they find a discrepancy on their bank statements," Frank Frassetto, division administrator of Trade and Consumer protection, told ConsumerAffairs.

Use your credit card instead, but cash is even better. If you must pay with a debit card, always run it as credit and never enter your PIN.

A night out can be more costly than you think. A restaurant is one of the few places where you're not actually doing the swiping — the waiter does it for you. When your card leaves your sight so the waiter can process the bill, you have no idea what's going on behind the scenes.

Servers can bring handheld card skimmers to work, swipe customer card information, and use the stolen data later. Even if you pick up take-out from a restaurant without sit-down service where you pay using the card yourself, the restaurant may keep your customer information on file.

You're best off wining and dining on cash or a credit card.

Whether you're on a clothing shopping spree or booking airfare online, make sure you don't use your debit card to pay for it.

"You don't use a debit card online," Susan Tiffany, retired director of consumer periodicals for the Credit Union National Association, told CreditCards.com, explaining that since a debit card links directly to a checking account, you would have "potential vulnerability" if the card number gets stolen.

Data breaches are on the rise, and the web is not immune. Both Sears and Delta Airlines suffered from online breaches in 2017.

The Identity Theft Center recommends keeping a low-limit credit card for online purchases.

It's not unusual for a car rental company to run a hard inquiry on your credit report without your knowledge or consent. And yes, it's legal because it's a step they take to prevent renting cars to auto thieves.

If your score is too low, they can refuse to rent to you.

Don't forget — a hard check on your credit can result in a lower FICO score of up to five points. It may not sound like a lot, but if you're on the border between fair and good credit, it could be a game changer.

Your credit score will thank you for using a credit card instead.

Vacation rental rip-offs aren't uncommon; typically, scammers who target this industry post a fake listing and ask vacationers to hand over payment or a deposit in advance. Never pay up front for it with your debit card.

The last thing you want is to pack your beach bag for a weekend away only to find that the ocean view home you booked is actually a seaside shack, doesn't exist, or belongs to owners who have no idea who you are (all scam scenarios that have actually happened) — and that you're short the cash you paid up front.

Even if the listing is legitimate, it's possible that vacation rental sites can get hacked. In one case, a vacationer lost $1,880 after trying to book a vacation with Homeaway.com. Some of the property owners' emails had been hacked on the site, and a scammer was intercepting the emails and deposit — the real owner never received either.

Since these sticky scenarios can happen, paying with a credit card will help you resolve the issue faster if it does.

Clark Howard recommends keeping your debit card card inside your wallet when ordering furniture or appliances that need to be delivered.

After the recession, many furniture and appliance stores began closing due to the housing slump; customers who paid for their deposits with a debit card were burned when the store went out of business before they received their delivery.

Even though we're out of the recession, and this situation may not be as common as it once was, keep in mind that recessions always recycle — and some think another recession is soon on its way.

As Howard explains, good practice involves paying for a deposit with a credit card only — if you don't have the delivery within 50 days, put in a credit card dispute before the 60-day limit. If your purchase does end up arriving, just release the dispute.