What to do in the drive-through?

[SAWBONES]

Card data could be compromised from any number of places. Sometimes not even from a purchase- and perhaps months after the fact. A merchant you used six months ago with transaction data going back multiple years could be compromised recently.

All too true.

Only proven way to manage this is to snag a prepaid card, preload funds needed for the purchase and assume it will be compromised eventually.

Which effectively undoes the main advantage of typical "universal use" credit cards, that of instant and ongoing purchase-convenience.

[TQP]

Y'all got any advice for recognizing skimmers?

Brian Krebs blogs about skimmers among other security topics.

Most of the IT security stuff is way over my head but I still find it interesting. Here's his skimmer series

https://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/

[GardoneVT]

Which effectively undoes the main advantage of typical "universal use" credit cards, that of instant and ongoing purchase-convenience.

Well,one can purchase reloadable debit cards from any of the major providers and they'll behave just like a personal card. You need only keep a set amount of money you don't mind losing ,and if you suspect fraudulent activity simply chuck it.

Alternatively one may just charge their regular expenses to a credit card ,pay off the balance and let the bank deal with the issue when it gets compromised,but I realize some may find debt personally objectionable.