Everyday, I always get one or two preapproved credit card offers in the mail. At times, I'll even get a check for 5000 or 10000 with the usual strings attached. Is anyone else concerned about this? I feel this would offer big opportunites for theft idenity if someone snatches these offers from your box. Is there a way to opt out of this crap? once someone gets your idenity, its a b**** to clear up.
Most identity theft experts recommend buying a good cross-shredder and shredding all credit card offers and anything else that might be useful. Identity thieves can often get enough personal information from several sources to be able to get credit cards and the such. I shred everything that even MIGHT be personal. Going through trash is often the way people come up with your personal information.
Want to stop getting these offers? Now you can "opt out." Just like with marketing phone calls Click here and follow their instructions It worked for me. I have not gotten a single offer in the past few weeks since doing it.
Great link, drapg. They are incorrect about your credit score be affected by these credit card companies sending you pre-approved offers. Credit inquiries from these companies pre-screening you for offers do NOT affect your beacon score.
Good to know. That was actually my primary motivation behind "opting out" and not getting the stupid offers in the mail was a bonus.
There are two types of inquires. You have the inquiry that dings your record very slightly, such as applying for CC's, Loans, ect ... (did you know that shopping for loans at multiple banks only counts as one inquiry if done in short period of time) The second is inquires such as preapproved cards, yourself checking your record, ect ... From what I understood, these do not affect your overall credit report.
I think the whole "pre-approved" thing is a sham. No one can check your credit without your approval, so how would a bank you have no relationship with know anything about your credit record? Back when my credit was shot to hell, I used to get those all the time. They would say things like "because of your sparkling credit rating, we offer you...." Yeah, right... Sometimes, it's a card with a very high interest rate, a very high annual fee, very high penalties, and a very low credit limit. I got a card once (Cross Country Gold Card ) that advertised a 5,000 limit. When I got it, it had a limit of 300 and an annual fee of 150 that was already charged on the card. Every time I sent a payment in, it would take 3 weeks to credit the balance thus giving me late fees, which would in turn put me over the limit, which would give me over the limit fees, etc. Shred them.
