Those little magic wands that are attached to your key ring make life so simple, don’t they? A quick little wave and Poof! Your gas tank is full! Poof! Your craving for cheese covered nachos is satisfied! Poof! Your tires are rotated! Poof! Your car is cleaned and waxed! Poof! Your bank account is emptied out! Huh?

Yes, those little wands issued by the big American gas companies are surely magical, when they’re used properly, and in the right hands. But if that little magic wand is placed in the hand of someone with ill intentions, you’re going to be the one to pay. And that does not include your teenager buying a hundred bucks worth of Slurpees in the gas station convenience store.

A magic wand in the grubby little hands of a thief can deplete your bank account, or run up charges on your credit card - whichever account is linked to your wand. Naturally, your bank will “eventually” straighten out erroneous charges to your account, but not before the damage has been done. Let’s say that your wand is linked to your checking account, and the person using your wand is filling up the tank of every person he knows who owns a vehicle (and even some individuals that he doesn’t know - hey, he’s an “entrepreneur,” after all, of a sort). Each transaction puts a hold against available funds in your account when the wand is first waved; eventually, your account is going to be zeroed out.

In this economy, with most families struggling and living month to month, can you afford for all of your hard-earned cash to be withdrawn from your account now, even if it will eventually be replaced? No. And what about the checks you’ve got drawn against that account. You know - the checks that are going to bounce? What about the fees for the bounced checks, not to mention the humiliation of calling the payee.

Treat your wand just as you would cold hard cash - because that wand is the next best thing.