I received this in an email today. Will we *ever* be safe? ;o) Dear Cardmember , Recently, Citi was notified of a system breach at Epsilon, a third-party vendor that provides marketing services to a number of companies, including Citi. The information obtained was limited to the customer name and email address of some credit card customers. No account information or other information was compromised and therefore there is no reason to re-issue a new card. Because e-mail addresses can be used for "phishing" attacks, we want to remind our customers of the following: Citi Cards uses an Email Security Zone in all of our email to help you recognize that the email was sent by us. Customers should check the Email Security Zone to verify that the email you received is from Citi and reduce the risk of personal information being "phished." To help you recognize that the email was sent by Citi we will always include the following in the Email Security Zone in the top headline portion of all our emails: Your first name and last name Last four digits of your Citi card account number And recently to increase security, we have added your âÂÂmember sinceâ date located on the front of your card, where available. More information about phishing is available here: learn more Important steps that you can take to protect your security online: Don't provide your Online User ID or password in an e-mail. Don't reply to e-mails that require you to enter personal information directly into an e-mail or URL. Don't reply to or follow links in e-mails threatening to close your account if you do not take the immediate action of providing any personal information. We may send you an email regarding your account requesting you contact us via phone. It is not recommended to use your e-mail address as a login ID or password. If you suspect that youâÂÂve received a fraudulent e-mail message, please forward it to us. Forward suspicious e-mails to: spoof@citicorp.com If you have any questions or concerns about emails that you may receive that look suspicious, we encourage you to contact Citi Customer Service at the phone number on the back of your card.

Everything I've seen/heard about this is not to cancel credit cards. Cancelling them does affect your credit scores. That said, at one point I had 3 separate credit cards issued by the same bank. I use only one and pay the balance in full every month. I have received letters from the bank requesting that I either use the cards or said cards would be cancelled effective 30 days of the receipt of said letter. I didn't use them, and those accounts have been cancelled. DH hates credit cards and prefers to pay cash for purchases. I did check with the 3 credit bureaus regarding whether the cancellation by the bank for lack of use of those two cards would affect our credit scores. All three claimed that it would not, and I did manage to obtain fax confirmation of that assurance. I did pull reports at 90 days after their cancellation, and our scores hadn't changed. Unless the card company contacts you about cancelling for lack of use, I wouldn't cancel.

I had a Sears card many years ago, didn't use it. A year ago last Fall, I bought a freezer and to get an additional discount + sale price, signed up for and put the freezer on a new card that day (they said the old card no longer valid). I was surprised to find myself with another MasterCard, not a Sears card. Paid the bill in full when it arrived, and just before the holidays a few weeks ago I called and asked them to cancel the card, I kept getting mailings, offers, and there was very little chance I would ever use the card. I have one for business, one household, and one I keep in my desk for online orders, booking reservations, more than enough. They argued slightly, then agreed to cancel the card for me.

Has happened to me, too. One time I ordered something from a small store in another state. I have a feeling they were not sophisticated enough to protect their database of credit card numbers. It was shortly after that that I found that two laptop computers had been ordered using my card. Another time my son found a $15,000 charge on his card. He just happened to check his account online. He called the credit card company but they said there was nothing they could do about the purchase, although he would not be responsible for the cost. The charge has been made to a large lighting company in another state. My son, out of the goodness of his heart, called the company and informed them of the scam. They were so grateful! The order was sitting n their loading dock waiting to be picked up and they were able to stop it from leaving the warehouse. They would have been stuck with the cost. What a world we live in. I'd call the police and let them know about the spa, although, who knows, maybe there is some rotten apple at the credit card company.