If they used it at retail locations, the only way they could have done that is with an actual bin dump from the mag strip… unless the stores were manually keying a number off of a napkin. Zero chance of it happening any other way (aside from you losing your card). This means you were “skimmed” at an actual store or ATM.
The bank said they probably went in to the stores and when they were checking out said" my card won’t swipe here’s the number." And then the cashier manually types it in.
Amazon.com is notorious for credit card theft issues. Have you bought anything off that website lately?
I received a call on my cell phone a few years back from someone in India asking me if I had made a large purchase at a baby store in another state. I did not and it was a card I had not used in a few months.
Luckily I was able to dispute the charges and received a new credit card in the mail after cancelling the ‘stolen’ one.
Nope never bought off amazon. I still think it was paypal.