Junk in the Trunk
Our mail box is up the street from our house so usually we stop by it when driving back into our neighborhood from wherever our day’s adventures have taken us. I’ll have The Hotness pop the trunk of the car and I’ll do a fast sort of what is important mail and what is just junk.
The important stuff (bills, personal letters, business mail) comes inside the car and then on into the house for processing. The junk (credit card offers, refinance offers, life insurance offers) lives in the trunk of the car for about a week until I gather it all up and do the “weekly sort and shred”.
Each week I can say that out of a whole pile of “trunk mail” I only end up finding use of maybe one piece. The rest just gets trashed because let’s face it I don’t need another credit card and I don’t have the time nor the resources to re-fi a house I just bought less than a year ago. All the junk was a waste of time and a huge waste of paper. So I did what every other red-blooded internet access having American would do when they have a problem…I consulted with Google about it.
Turns out there’s a website where you can actually opt-out of all that junk mail shit either for 5 years or forever (you get to pick your poison) and I just wanted to pass the info along to y’all. Click here to go visit and get yerself opted-out if you’re sick of dealing with tons of crap. I got The Hotness and I signed up today and am looking forward to having a lot less junk in my trunk from now on 
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**Update 3/6/2007**
There were some worries from readers about the site being legit and thanks to AIS reader Steve and a little extra research on my end I can assure you that this service is 100% legit and backed by the Federal Trade Commission. Click on the “more” link below to read a little more history and information on why the website was created and who recommends using it as a security measure for your identity.
According to a press release from the Federal Trade Commission made back in July 2005 the FTC stated that “Beginning August 1, 2005, companies that send “prescreened” solicitations of credit or insurance to consumers will be required to provide simple and easy-to-understand notices that explain consumers’ right to opt out of receiving future offers.”
In order to comply with that ruling the major consumer credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and TransUnion got together and created the OptOutPrescreen.com website that would provide consumers with the easy-to-opt-out process they had to implement by this new law.
The official FTC “Fighting Back Against Identity Theft” website (a division of the main FTC site) does recommend using the OptOutPresceen service to help protect yourself against identity theft. Below is an excerpt from a part of the site that gives the OptOutPrescreen 800 number to consumers as part of a identity theft deterrent measure.
“To opt out of receiving prescreened offers of credit in the mail, call: 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688). The three nationwide consumer reporting companies use the same toll-free number to let consumers choose not to receive credit offers based on their lists. Note: You will be asked to provide your Social Security number which the consumer reporting companies need to match you with your file.” (Click to view Treat your Trash and Mail Carefully)
The FTC site also provides many other great tips for keeping you identity safe so you may want to take a look at the rest of the info they provide as well. AIS reader Steve also found a website called Fraud Guides which is a consumer run site that also does a pretty comprehensive investigative write up on on the OptOutPrescreen service (thanks for the link Steve!).
So, hopefully the above information will lay to rest any fears of online scams or phishing activity and will help you make the decision weather or not this service is for you. If you still have more questions I’m sure you can call and verify the site with an FTC representative.
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RisibleGirl said:
on March 5, 2007 at 11:19 am
Hey, thanks for that link! You’d think that I would know about this, being a banker and all. OK, I don’t offer credit- but I TEACH the rules about offering credit. der…
In addition to being such a hassle, there’s always the chance that someone might get into your mailbox (if not locked) and pull some of those credit card offers. That’s what I worry about most.
I’m going there right now!
Cowboy Blob said:
on March 5, 2007 at 1:12 pm
BE CAREFUL! I have no way to know if this is legitimate or a phishing expedition. Let me know how this works out for you. I’d advise you to run a credit report soon….
Mr. Fabulous said:
on March 5, 2007 at 1:44 pm
I never heard of keeping your junk mail in your trunk before.
You facinate me.
Lindsey said:
on March 5, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Yeah, the junk mail is a big issue for me too! I went with Green Dimes ;-)!
John said:
on March 5, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Hey, there’s a damn good idea.
All of my junk mail is a few hours away from me, since it gets delivered to my home address and I’m currently away at university… saves me the effort of shredding it, anyway!
Been a long time since I commented, I’m hella slack… I’m still reading though!
While I’m here, I’m guessing you’ve stopped checking up on my neglected ol’ blog (like everyone else has, heh) so I might as well let you know here that I’ve moved… the link is on the old one, I don’t wanna spam it across here as well!
Oh, and also… have you heard anything about this year’s Blogathon? I don’t think the mini-thon that someone planned actually went ahead in the end… don’t suppose you’d be interested in sorting something out between us if you’ve got the time and inclination? Drop me an (trainwreckdiaries at gmail dot com) if you’re up for it, like.
Take care you,
John.
John said:
on March 5, 2007 at 7:42 pm
That last sentence was supposed to read “drop me an email”, but I guess you figured that for yourself. Apparently I’m a complete ‘tard and miss random words out of my sentences. Oh well!
jane said:
on March 5, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Bless you, little grasshoppa! I’m signing up now
Steve said:
on March 5, 2007 at 10:04 pm
I found this entry on Fraud Guides about the site, and they seem to think it’s legit. Though they do make a point about looking for the ’s’ after the http in the URL, so Bug you might want to update your link to include that. And thanks for the tip. I hate those offers and am probably going to use this site to stop them.
The Chad said:
on March 6, 2007 at 2:11 am
thank you thank you thank you. I’m so tired of getting all these damn credit card offers!
Canopenner said:
on March 6, 2007 at 9:39 am
wow, thanks for the incredibly useful link!
Awesome!
:^)