How to Opt Out of Financial Junk Mail | Sileo

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Your private data is bought and sold by junk-mailers without your knowledge, but you can easily opt out by calling 1-888-567-8688 or visiting www.OptOutPreScreen.com.

Find out how to opt out of junk mail today.

There are complete industries built around collecting, massaging and selling your data – your name, phone number, address, spending patterns, net worth, the age of your children, the magazines you buy, etc. Companies buy bits of your privacy so that they can knowledgeably market products to you that you are likely to purchase.

To minimize the amount of your personal information bought and sold on the data market, begin “opting out”.  Opting out is the process of notifying organizations that collect your personal information to stop sharing it with other organizations. “Pre-approved” credit card offers (i.e., financial junk mail) are a major source of identity theft. Those mailers give thieves an easy way to set up credit card accounts in your name without your consent. They spend money on the card and default on the balance, leaving you with the mess of proving that you didn’t make the purchases. The solution is to opt out of receiving pre-approved credit, home loan and insurance offers.

Pre-approved credit offers (also called pre-screened or pre-qualified credit offers) are possible because credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union – companies that collect and sell financial data on nearly every American) make a great deal of money selling your identity (i.e., name, address, phone number, age, credit score) to credit card, loan and insurance companies.  But it is your right to stop the sale of your information. To opt out of pre-approved credit offers with the three main credit reporting bureaus, call 1-888-567-8688 or visit www.OptOutPreScreen.com. There is no cost to you for opting out, and it will save a forest of trees.

Once you’ve completed this step, begin opting out of ALL information sharing on every account you have (bank, brokerage, mortgage, utilities, phone, etc.) as well as with the Direct Marketing Association.

While this takes time, learning how to opt out of junk mail can save you time and energy in the long run.

John Sileo is an an award-winning author and keynote speaker on identity theft, internet privacy, fraud training & technology defense. John specializes in making security entertaining, so that it works. John is CEO of The Sileo Group, whose clients include the Pentagon, Visa, Homeland Security & Pfizer. John’s body of work includes appearances on 60 Minutes, Rachael Ray, Anderson Cooper & Fox Business. Contact him directly on 800.258.8076.

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Posted by Identity Theft Speaker in Identity Theft Prevention and tagged , , , .

2 Responses to How to Opt Out of Financial Junk Mail | Sileo

  1. ena axup: June 11, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    i feel uncomfotable giving my full SS number, how about the last 4 digits

  2. John Sileo, Identity Theft Speaker: June 11, 2014 at 7:20 pm

    I only give it out when absolutely necessary! In most cases, they don’t actually require the last four, so I try to use an alternate identifier.

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