A little piece of plastic has shortened shopping times and made spending a cinch, but what happens when someone uses your credit card against you.

"It would be so easy for someone to take someone's card and get away with it," says Joey Swain of West Springfield.

But it shouldn't be, store cashiers are supposed to match your signature every time you swipe.

"I would probably say 99-percent of the time they don't ask for ID," says Stacey Bingham of Ludlow.

And when lines get long the statistics get even worse.

"Christmas is a huge example based upon the lines," says Kostin, Ruffkess & Company's Fraud Specialist Joseph Centofanti. "They don't look at anything it's just such a huge process to move everybody through."

So we went on a shopping spree to test some local stores, using Doug Lezette's card, CBS 3 Springfield's news director, to see if the cashiers would even notice the discrepancy. We took the card, went into the store to purchase a DVD player, and the cashier actually took the card, looked at the signature and still let the purchase go through.

Swain was shocked to hear what we got away with, "You're kidding that's horrible."

But we didn't stop there. At the next store the credit machine instructed me to hand my card to the cashier, but when I ignored the request and put it back in my wallet the clerk never complained.

"I think their staff needs to be more up to date about what's going around, they need to check things more thoroughly, and they really need to check IDs," says Bingham.

Stores are reimbursed by the credit card company no matter who makes the purchase, so Centofanti says protecting you may not be a priority.

"The merchants may not be as vigilant about checking that because the responsibility is sitting somewhere else," says Centofanti.

That's why he recommends keeping a close eye on your card and more importantly your statement.

"You should be looking at it immediately making sure everything makes sense," says Centofanti. "Matching it to your slips and that sort of thing."

And because those slips can sometimes carry as much information as your actual card, Centofanti says securing your bill can be as important as securing your wallet.

"Don't even have your credit card go to a regular mailbox. Don't mail your credit card bill from your regular mailbox, put it into a lock box or post office box."

Centofanti also recommends shredding anything with personal information and checking your credit report at least once a year. But credit conscious consumers say they won't let the stores continue to ignore their shopping safety.

"I never sign the back of my card, I always put see ID, so they have to look at the back," says Swain. "And if they don't I let them know it."

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