Regarding "liabilty to charges caused by ID theft": Most of today cards has "0 Liability" when they offer to you, so make sure to check the clauses/agreement on your statement or w/ customer services (some CC make you liable only for the first $50). However, you have to "act in good faith" by notifying the CC company as soon as you notice the charges (usually via checking w/ your monthly statement), which mean they usually give you 30, 45, or 60, or even 90 days to dispute the charge (in writing, phone call will not protect your rights). In a dispute, usually you call them, tell them what happened, they put a lock on your account then send you the paperworks for you to put in your statement of claim/dispute regarding the charge w/ any proofs or verification (if you have one), like you never traveled to Alaska or buy anything from Alaska and the charge come from there.
Also, w/ today internet, many CC offer "account alert" (Amex, Discover, Chase, etc) which you can setup so that it will notify you of any charge more than let say $500 (you set the amount), or give you a snap shot of the account once a week (Amex - Costco). All in all, there are many tools out there to help you protect your CC account/limits/spending, just check w/ your CC, signup w/ them, then explain to your dear wife that she can sleep tight at night now....
Hope this help a little.
