# Just received an unsolicited credit card, a Visa card, and ... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 17, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817 "2010-05-17T21:30:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/1 "2010-05-17T21:30:45Z")
Just received an \*unsolicited \*credit card, a Visa card, and from all outward appearances it appears to be valid. Should I trash it, file it, phone and protest it, report it to some authority, what? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/2 "2010-05-17T21:59:35Z")
I suggest you call to cancel it, assuming you don’t want it. Don’t just trash it; the account will stay open. I have never heard of unsolicited credit cards; consider that someone may have applied for it in your name and you were not intended to actually get it. Might want to check your credit report. [www.annualcreditreport.com](http://www.annualcreditreport.com) is the site authorized by the FTC. I don’t know if there is any law enforcement action you should pursue. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/3 "2010-05-17T22:00:39Z")
Notify the card company that you did not open an account and request that it be closed. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/4 "2010-05-17T22:05:33Z")
I thought they weren’t allowed to do that any more. They used to send unsolicited cards out all the time, and then would try to force people to pay the balances on cards that got stolen and abused. Johnny Carson’s dog got a card, which he showed on the Tonight Show (if you are asking who Johnny Carson is and wondering why Jay Leno wasn’t hosting the Tonight Show GET OFF OF MY LAWN!!!). Anyway, I thought that after all that mess in the 70s that they couldn’t send out unsolicited cards any more. I could be wrong though. I think they technically can send you a card that isn’t activated, with instructions how to activate it. It’s not a valid account until you activate it which is how I think they get around the legal restrictions. Not sure though. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/5 "2010-05-17T22:46:39Z")
Definitely call. I’ve had new cards sent by the CC company to _replace_ my current (ETA: _nonexpiring_) cards. Sometimes the same CC number, and other times a different number. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/6 "2010-05-18T00:36:28Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Definitely call. I’ve had new cards sent by the CC company to _replace_ my current (ETA: _nonexpiring_) cards. Sometimes the same CC number, and other times a different number. And I’ve gotten new cards to replace an old card which look very different - thanks to upgrades, banks being swallowed by other banks, etc. However the documentation that came with the card made this reasonably clear. I assume the OP also got a book with terms and conditions - look at that and see if it is a replacement card. Then call if it is truly unsolicited. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/7 "2010-05-18T01:14:21Z")
> [@](#): > > ``` > The Truth In Lending Act specifically states that “no credit card shall be issued except in response to a request or application therefor. ” It further specifies that this prohibition does not apply to the issuance of a credit card renewal or substitution (15 U. S. C. 1642). The Truth in Lending regulations clarify that, regardless of the purpose for which a credit card is to be used, including business, commercial, or agricultural use, no credit card may be issued to any person except: (1) in response to an oral or written request or application for the card; or (2) as a renewal of, or substitute for, an accepted credit card (12 C. F. R. 226. 12). > > ``` [http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/rpt/2007-R-0682.htm](http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/rpt/2007-R-0682.htm) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/8 "2010-05-18T04:03:15Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Definitely call. I’ve had new cards sent by the CC company to _replace_ my current (ETA: _nonexpiring_) cards. Sometimes the same CC number, and other times a different number. Yep. I just got one about five or six months back from Bank of America. It’s to replace I card that expires in 2012 (!). Something about new benefits and things like that. I held on to it, but I never activated it (and it doesn’t show up on my credit report or BoA statements), since it has a completely different number, and I don’t feel like updating all my auto-pay accounts with a new number and the same expiration date. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/9 "2010-05-18T07:22:12Z")
Is it Chase? I thought I got an unsolicited card, then I found out Chase cancelled the agreement they had with Starbucks and Volkswagen. I got new credit cards and new numbers under the Chase banner to replace those. Though it was hard to see 'cause my Volkswagen card is now SLATE and the two aren’t clear they’re related unless you look at your online account. I would also look into someone else applying for a card under your name. That sounds likely. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-received-an-unsolicited-credit-card-a-visa-card-and/539817/10 "2010-05-18T07:39:50Z")
Did your old card expire? I’ve gotten new cards before on those grounds.