If you have a credit rating that’s not absolutely in the tank, you probably receive a regular flood of paper in your mailbox which gushingly declares that you are a wonderful person, trustworthy and responsible, and because of that you have been pre-approved (sound of horns blaring, balloons floating skyward and pigeons being released) for a credit card from their generous organization. These pre-approved, pre-screened or “firm” offers can arrive at a dizzying pace, and they likely wind up in your trash. If you happen to be the more paranoid type, (and remember: just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get you) you may even spend the time to shred them all before discarding them.
You may be interested in avoiding all of this by simply stopping the flow, and there seems to be a way you can do this. You can check out optoutprescreen.com or call them at:
1-888-5-OPT-OUT.
By doing this you can make a choice to shut off your credit information from all three major credit reporting services to the companies who send out these offers and, in effect, put a “do not call” tag on your records. You can choose to do this for five years or permanently. Should you, at a future date, become unhappy with your current card and want to shop around, you can use the same site to “opt in” and provide that information to the credit card companies once again.
If you’re worried about the legitimacy of this service, it is endorsed by the Federal Trade Commission. This has been a public service to annoyed junk mail recipients from The Moderate Voice.
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