How effective are one-time-use virtual card numbers against fraud?

One-time-use virtual card numbers can be pretty effective against certain types of fraud because the card details become useless after the transaction. That means even if a merchant database is breached later, the exposed number may no longer be valid.

You can see why this matters by looking at discussions on a Carding forum, where compromised payment details are often treated as disposable data. A single-use number limits how long those details remain useful.

They are not a complete solution, since phishing and account takeovers can still happen, but they are a good extra layer of protection for online purchases.