Hazards: He Who Steals My Purse Steals My Credit Cards

"I have a champagne taste but no funds to support it," the 17-year-old girl explained to New York police. With credit cards belonging to Actress Carol Lawrence, she rented a car, bought clothes, perfume and records, was about to fly off to Miami, before she was stopped.

Loser Lawrence was no isolated vic tim. Of the 70 million credit cards in circulation in the U.S., no fewer than 1,500,000 are lost each year, and of these 60,000 have been stolen. Illicit charges run up on a stolen card are estimated to average $500. And stealing credit cards is an increasingly popular crime; dollar losses from their misuse increased eightfold from 1958 ($266,850) to 1962 ($1,915,000).

Most major credit-card companies grimly absorb these losses themselves. But to protect holders against laws making cardholders liable for charges until their loss has been reported, a St. Louis company called Saf-Card Inc. has announced a plan by which, for $20 annually, Saf-Card will indemnify the holder for up to $10,000 in purchases run up on a card by champagne spenders with mickey finn morals.