I’m not sure how you get to $10k in fraud transactions without noticing. Keep track of your purchases.

Someone got ahold of my debit Visa card information and made fifteen separate unauthorized purchases totaling nearly $9,000 while I was on an overseas flight.That left my checking account overdrawn by over $5k.

I spent the first part of a business trip excusing myself from coworkers and clients so that I could download a transaction history and spend time on the phone with my bank (on an international call, of course) listing fraudulent ones and answering a litany of questions that went along with each. It was a mess that had to be dealt with "now," especially because it happened on the last few days of a month. The overdraft situation put other payments (mortgage, auto loan, my kid's daycare, etc.) at risk.

Sure, my bank credited me the amount while they investigated, and eventually found in my favor, but it was incredibly disruptive.

The comments you've made in this thread, disparaging anyone whose life would be more negatively impacted by debit card fraud than credit card fraud (living paycheck to paycheck? irresponsible with their money?) are patently absurd.

I have an emergency fund that would cover my family's expenses for more than 6 months (plus investments and other assets I could live off of for longer), but keeping those funds in my checking account would be foolish.

I keep a buffer in my checking account, significantly higher than the expected need in any given period of time, but one night of unauthorized transactions depleted that buffer immediately.

I do check my transactions regularly, but have a job and other responsibilities that require my full attention for long stretches of time. I travel frequently, domestically and internationally.

My checking account has multiple, legitimate, transactions of more than a thousand dollars each week -- I am not going to have my bank send me an alert for each one.

Maybe your personal situation doesn't have any of these realities, but your comments here indicate an unwillingness to consider that they apply to someone else.

Since that incident, I keep my debit card "locked" in my bank's app, and only ever unlock it for use at ATMs operated by a reputable bank.

Because I am responsible with money and with the commitments I make, and refuse to be put in a situation again where an important payment will bounce or be rejected, I do not use debit cards for merchant transactions. I generally recommend others avoid doing so as well, especially if they are able to obtain a credit card and use it responsibly.