A few years ago I received my first debit card, and I remember thinking “I’ll never use this thing” when I got it. Now a day rarely passes when I don’t use it. As such this article about debit card thieves circumventing the need for a PIN number to used debit cards at ATM machines really concerns me. The article speculates that thieves aren’t actually circumventing the PIN requirement, but are obtaining the PIN through other means. It also explains that some retailers store PIN numbers even though they are not supposed to, stating that it is not necessarily the retailers fault, it is due to software in use. The article does suggest that one way to help protect yourself from having your PIN stolen is to use your debit card as a credit card and not use you PIN in that way, but to only use your PIN when dealing with an ATM, which has much stricter security measures. No matter what your decision, the article is an interesting read.