Originally Posted by EasternTraveler

The official rule of credit cards:
"A credit card is not legally activated until signed." The signature validates the credit card like a signature validates a contract. Simple possession of the contract does not mean that you are legally bound to its terms nor that you agree to the terms of the contract. If you do not sign the card, you have in effect not agreed to the terms of the card as an instrument of payment and therefore are not agreeing to the terms of the card. From a contractual stand point, any merchant that accepts the card without it being signed is not making a complete agreement for future payment.

The supposed rule of credit cards:
The merchant should match the signature to the example on the back of the card. Doing so will prevent theft because the two should match. If a thief finds a card that is signed, they cannot sign it and also can not match the signature. If the card is not signed, the thief can now sign the card and the thieves signature of the name on the card will match the one on the card signature panel, because the thief signed it himself. This method only works when the merchant actually verifies the card. However, if only a few merchants check, there is still a small chance of a thief being caught.

I have had my signature panel checked multiple times. When a cashier asks for my ID, I refuse and say, "it is signed". They cannot legally demand my ID. Once they see it is signed and the signatures match, I am on my way.

I hope this is detailed enough and helpful.

Originally Posted by The_Bouncer

As someone who has been the victim of card fraud on no less than 7 separate occasions, I can tell you, it makes zero difference whether you sign the card or not.

Firstly, nobody checks the signature. The vast majority of cashiers either don't have the time or just can't be bothered. I say that as a part-time cashier myself. I'm not a police officer and I'm not paid enough to argue with a potential thief simply because someone's handwriting looks a bit off.

Secondly, copying a signature is a ludicrously easy thing to do. In this day and age, we really need to get away from the idea that you can positively identify a person by the way they write their name.

In my experience, the vast majority of fraud these days takes place without the thief taking possession of the physical card.

The card is either cloned by a skimming device attached to an ATM or POS machine, or increasingly, wirelessly read by portable scanning devices.

Then the details are imparted onto a duplicate card, which the thief can then use with impunity, until it gets blocked (or maxed out) and transactions start getting declined.

Otherwise, the card number is simply used online. The most low-tech fraud perpetrated against me was about 15 years ago, when a contractor at my dad's house copied down my card number and used it to run up a couple of grand on phone-sex lines.

The bottom line is, there is simply no way to protect yourself 100% against card fraud. I have just given up now and accepted that, every now and then, I have to go through the rigmarole of reporting fraudulent transactions, signing declarations to get the money back, and ordering new cards.

Frankly, it's less hassle to have to do that every few years, than it is to try to use every protective measure in the book on an everyday basis, which quite honestly is a losing battle.

Originally Posted by AllieKat

1. If​​​​​If you don't sign it, the thief can. Because you didn't take reasonable precautions, zero liability won't apply.

2. Why on earth are you carrying a checkbook around with you??? Quit doing that if you care at all about security.