# How to stop getting ALL credit card offers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237 "2012-03-19T16:30:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/1 "2012-03-19T16:30:34Z")
I have done the whole [http://www.optoutprescreen.com](http://www.optoutprescreen.com) (link goes to official website) thing that supposedly puts a stop to all “pre-approved” credit card offers. But I still get tons of plain (not “pre-approved”) credit card offers in the mail. I travel a great deal and my mailbox out at the street is often not emptied for several days at a time, putting me at risk for identify theft/fraud by thieves stealing the applications and submitting them with my name. Plus, just mail just annoys me and makes me stabby. Is there any way to stop ALL CC offers from coming, not just the “pre-approved” ones? ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/2 "2012-03-19T16:44:13Z")
If mail makes you stabby just think of what it does to postal workers. ---
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/3 "2012-03-19T16:46:52Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > If mail makes you stabby just think of what it does to postal workers. Missed the edit window. Meant to type “ **junk** mail” makes me stabby. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/4 "2012-03-19T16:57:09Z")
Each credit card offer you receive should contain opt out information and instructions. Just look for the fine print. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/5 "2012-03-19T17:22:45Z")
You can try putting a lock on your credit. If it doesn’t stop the offers, at least it will make it impossible for anyone to use them. However, credit card offers are sent even to dead people. I just don’t see any way out. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/6 "2012-03-19T17:33:28Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > If mail makes you stabby just think of what it does to postal workers. Pays their salary? Don’t quote me on the figure, but junk mail makes up like 95% of the Post Office’s revenue. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/7 "2012-03-19T20:11:55Z")
A few years ago I began writing on the applications a bunch of obscenities like don’t F’in send me any more of this F’in crap etc. and mailing all their stuff back in their postage paid envelope. I have not gotten a credit card solicitation for at least a year and a half, so I guess that worked. ---
**Author:** ![Bemused](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/46a35a/32.png) [@Bemused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bemused)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/8 "2012-03-19T23:02:42Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > A few years ago I began writing on the applications a bunch of obscenities like don’t F’in send me any more of this F’in crap etc. and mailing all their stuff back in their postage paid envelope. I have not gotten a credit card solicitation for at least a year and a half, so I guess that worked. go a bit further. Cut some pieces of steel that will fit in the postage paid envelopes. Make sure you tape them in place. This raises the weight, and hence the price to mail them, considerably. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/9 "2012-03-19T23:19:52Z")
> [@Bemused](#): > > go a bit further. > > Cut some pieces of steel that will fit in the postage paid envelopes. Make sure you tape them in place. This raises the weight, and hence the price to mail them, considerably. No, it doesn’t. The PO just trashes them. We have covered this many times before. They do not get stuck with a higher postage bill. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/10 "2012-03-21T16:39:08Z")
> [@Bemused](#): > > go a bit further. > > Cut some pieces of steel that will fit in the postage paid envelopes. Make sure you tape them in place. This raises the weight, and hence the price to mail them, considerably. Uncle Cecil covered the lack of success of this tactic in [Can I mail a brick back to a junk-mail firm using the business reply envelope?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/566/can-i-mail-a-brick-back-to-a-junk-mail-firm-using-the-business-reply-envelope) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/11 "2012-03-22T02:11:50Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Pays their salary? Don’t quote me on the figure, but junk mail makes up like 95% of the Post Office’s revenue. According to the post office employee who actually delivers my mail, first class mail earns three times as much revenue as third class mail. Electronic commerce has carved a huge dent in first class revenue. The post office is left with increasing third class “junk mail” attempting to make up the loss. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/12 "2012-03-22T02:56:02Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > A few years ago I began writing on the applications a bunch of obscenities like don’t F’in send me any more of this F’in crap etc. and mailing all their stuff back in their postage paid envelope. I have not gotten a credit card solicitation for at least a year and a half, so I guess that worked. Unlikely to work. Most such envelopes are opened by machine, scanned & data-entered by low-level contract employees, usually from a separate service company. Nowadays, often people in a foreign country, who may not even speak English. They are paid only on the volume of work they produce, so they waste absolutely no time on obscenity-filled applications like yours, they just get trashed immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/13 "2012-03-22T05:08:14Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > You can try putting a lock on your credit. If it doesn’t stop the offers, at least it will make it impossible for anyone to use them. > > However, credit card offers are sent even to dead people. I just don’t see any way out. Seconding this. You’ll have to do this with all three of the major credit reporting companies and it can be a bit of a pain if you need to let someone access your credit score for a legitimate purpose but it’s the safest, best way to go. On another note, for an extra layer of security, you might want to get a locking, secure mailbox like [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002Q91K2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1/190-0541924-0926935?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_r=1NB2ENR0M3GHC73Y8336&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_i=B00442AYFG). If you’re gone for days at a time with mail stacking up then it couldn’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/14 "2012-03-22T23:57:36Z")
The opt-out screening process that you have signed up with is great for pre-approved since it registers you with the Credit Bureaus. However, to stop all offers go to the DMA (Direct Mail Association) website and get on their “do not mail” list. Info is here: [Welcome from TheDMA.org | About the ANA | ANA](http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/dispannouncements?article=627++++++) Most mailers screen their mailing list through this file prior to mailing. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/15 "2012-03-23T17:09:41Z")
I notice that the first link upthread says you can’t opt-out for others in your household. I’d like to be able to do that; I have a credit card addict in the house and I’d feel a lot more secure if I could do that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/16 "2012-03-23T21:01:39Z")
Well, whatever I did worked-just wish I knew what it was. I’ve not piled on any huge debts lately, when I did my annual credit check last month everything seemed kosher, yet I haven’t gotten any snail mail CC offers in several weeks now. Nor has my mom, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/17 "2012-03-23T21:11:08Z")
I always hear people complaining about how they worry that someone might steal their identity based on CC offers in the mail. How is that? Are they pre-filled with information not available to the public? I mean, I could look up some random person’s address and attempt to get a credit card with that too. As for a SSN, that’s not on the CC offer anyways. As for not getting them, what worked for me was to call the number on the offer (every single time I got an offer) and nicely ask them to stop sending them. It took about 6 months and probably 4 or 5 calls to Discover and probably 10 to Capital One and one to a handful of others but eventually they all stopped. In theory it probably only really took one call to each company but they told me that the mailings are usually set to go for the next few months so even though you are ‘removed’ from the database you may still get some mail. Either way, I called each time. FTR, I was always very nice, never any attitude. It’s just not something I get worked up over. Annoyed enough to call, yes, but not enough to yell and the random person who answers the phone. I don’t think I’ve had a CC offer in the mail in, well, since I’ve been in my current house, so at least 8 years or so, but I know it stopped while I was still in my last apartment. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/18 "2012-03-23T21:19:57Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I always hear people complaining about how they worry that someone might steal their identity based on CC offers in the mail. How is that? Are they pre-filled with information not available to the public? I mean, I could look up some random person’s address and attempt to get a credit card with that too. As for a SSN, that’s not on the CC offer anyways. > > . There’s some small risk, as the offers are partially pre-approved. So the thief fills out the form, then either changes the addrtess so it comes to him (this trick doesn’t work so well anymore0 or waits to steal it from the mailbox. Not really ID theft, but indeed a small risk of fraud. It used to be the risk was much higher, as the fraudster could simply change the address to his mail drop, then use the CC for a while, more or less risk free. But now the CC companies double check if the address is changed. Well, at least the respectable ones do. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/19 "2012-03-24T19:06:13Z")
I use [https://www.paperkarma.com/](https://www.paperkarma.com/) to stop junk mail. It’s free, and it works. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237/20 "2012-03-24T19:13:04Z")
Say yes to every offer, take every card you get and charge it up to the max, then don’t ever pay any of them. The offers will stop. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-getting-all-credit-card-offers/616237.md?page=2)