Opt-out of pre-approved credit

Last year alone, over 100 million offers for pre-approved credit were sent out to the citizens of the United States. That is a whole lot of junk mail being sent to your mailbox. It is a whole lot of temptation to use easy financial fixes and rely on credit. That is a whole lot of opportunity for identity thefts to steal your info and get credit lines in your name. There are a lot of reasons why getting these pre-approved credit offers are a bad idea.

The following are the instructions on how to stop them from coming.

1. Contact the three different credit bureaus directly and choose to "opt out" of offers for credit. Your name will be removed from the mail list for a minimum of two years, and can be taken off permanently. So, there are a couple of ways to do this. You can call toll-free 888-567-8688, and answer the questions they ask, which will include information like your name, phone number, social, etc. This is to verify who you are, and to make sure they put the block on the right person. So, do not get antsy about them asking for this information, it is necessary to get those credit card offers to stop filling up your mailbox.

2. Opt out in writing. To do this you are going to contact the three major credit bureaus individually, by writing to them. You can use a form letter provided by the Federal Trade Commission, or you can write your own.

You will want the letter to say that you want to be removed from marketing lists, and lists for offers of credit, and that you have included the information they will need to do so. Then list your full name, your current mailing address, your previous mailing address if you have a different one in the last 6 months, your social security number, your date of birth. Then thank them for their handling your request.

Make copies of the letter and date when it is sent so that you can call them if they do not comply.

Then send the letters to the following addresses.

Experian
Consumer Opt Out
701 Experian Parkway
Allen, TX 75013

Equifax, Inc.
Options
P.O. Box 740123
Atlanta, GA 30374-0123

Trans Union
Marketing list Opt Out
P.O. Box 97328
Jackson, MS 39288-7328

3. Contact each credit card company separately and ask to be taken off their list for pre-approved credit.

If you need credit, you can contact a company that provides it and ask for it, so you really do not need the pre-approval offers. Those are marketing schemes, and will more likely get you into trouble financially than help you. So, ignore them, shred them, and toss them until the opt-out kicks in and you stop receiving them all together. You may still get a few here and there from independent sources, but once again, just shred them and throw them away.