That is absolutely horrible! You can get c/c numbers all sorts of ways and then go on sprees with retailers/hotels that will accept purchases without the card being present. There are some nasty and selfish people out there.
I work in a hotel and we have been burnt in the past by people using their c/c number over the phone to pay for their bill (stolen of course!) however we now only will put through a transaction when the card & cardholder is present. Each time a transaction went through that was dodgy, we had to give the money back so there should be good news for you! The only problem is we had about 10 working days to come back with any proof that the cardholder was present and if we didn't they take the money straight out, so you might have to wait a few weeks
Glad to hear that you are so positive about not needing money for Christmas - you are absolutely right