Are you tired of getting offers for credit cards that you did not apply for? These offers are quite common and they can be risky. If the wrong person gets your mail, for instance, he or she may try to apply for the card under your name, leading to a risk of identity theft for you.
You can prevent this, or at least reduce your risk, by opting out of receiving such offers. There are many people looking for ways to get out of offers like this, but it does not have to be hard to do so.
The Only Number You’ll Need to Call
Instead of calling the company sending you the offer for the credit card, and telling them not to send more, take the legal approach. Under law, it is now necessary that the three national credit bureaus provide a way for you to opt out of such offers. You can do that by visiting the credit bureau’s website to learn more, or by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT to do so. If you call the number, all three credit bureaus will stop allowing offers to be sent.
How It Works
How do the credit card companies play a role in this? Each of these credit bureaus will rent out lists to financial institutions that request them. Lenders will rent lists like this based on specific information they are looking for in borrowers. The credit bureaus do not provide any sensitive information to the lender about your report at this stage, but they do allow for pre-qualification of credit card offers. This way, the lender knows you may qualify for the loan they wish to offer to you.
For example, if a credit card company wants to find a specific type of person to offer a new card offer to, they will request those statistics from the credit bureau. For example, the lender may request a list of people who have a good history of paying bills on time, a long credit history and who make over $50,000 a year. Your name may end up on this list. That may be why you are receiving junk mail offers like this.
Get It Deleted
The good news is that the Fair Credit Reporting Act provides consumers with protections. If you do not want to receive such offers, you simply need to tell the credit bureaus that. This obligates the credit bureau to remove your information from these lists.
To do this, call the opt out phone number listed above. You can also write to each of the credit bureaus to request this information, or log into the company’s website to do so. The three major US credit bureaus include Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
For those who want to put an end to these offers, now is the time to do so. A credit card offer can be a good thing, but not at the risk of your personal identity and not when you are uninterested in obtaining one. Opt out and avoid receiving this type of junk mail and special offers in the future.
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