Identity theft is a massive problem. In 2017, a record 16.7 million Americans fell victim to it. Approximately $16.8 billion was stolen, with 30% of adults learning their personal information had been in some way compromised. The Equifax data breach brought greater awareness to the range of sensitive American consumer data which is vulnerable to hacking and exposure.

There are a range of methods to reduce the chances of identity theft. You can sign up for free credit monitoring, to keep an eye on whether anyone has applied for credit in your name, or otherwise accessed your accounts. You can set up centralized online access for all your credit, bank and investment accounts, to keep an eye on any unauthorized spending. And of course, you might want to consider a credit freeze. 

However, we’d like to share a less well known, but highly useful means of reducing the chances that you’ll fall victim to identity theft: opting out of prescreened offers. Let’s go into more detail. 

Prescreened Offers & Credit Scores  

You’ve recieved those letters and brochures you receive in the mail, informing you that you’ve been preapproved for a new credit card, or are eligible to apply for a mortgage. While such letters might feel good to receive, it’s also understandable to get annoyed. After all, they can clog up your mailbox, and sometimes are not super relevant. On occasion, these mailers might offer a card you actually like, but that’s relatively rare.

Do these offers affect your credit score? After all, credit inquiries make up 10% of your credit score, and is it really fair to have your score dinged, when you didn’t even ask for this card?

Fortunately, these sorts of promotional offers won’t impact credit score. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, lenders are allowed to send you offers, for various sorts of credit, if you meet a particular set of requirements, such as having a certain minimum credit score (or type of credit history), or live in a certain zip code.

They purchase this information from the three major credit bureaus, and use is to reach out to people like you, who fit their target consumer profile.Now, if you apply for one of these promotional offers (especially if it is a mortgage or credit card), you’ll probably have to agree to a credit check (known as a hard inquiry), and this will impact your credit score.

Identity Theft Risks 

There is one big reason to be concerned about these soft inquiries: identity theft. While credit bureaus, and businesses which share promotional offers, take security precautions, the reality is that no security system is ever perfect. It is possible for your sensitive personal information to be accidentally compromised, given that hackers and identity thieves have only become more sophisticated in their methods.

Receiving offers by mail also poses another major risk: An identity thief accessing your mail, and gaining access to your personal information. This could be used to open accounts in your name, which is both highly damaging, and can take quite a while to clear up.      

Why not reduce the chances of this happening, by making sure that your personal information is shared less often? There’s a simple way to make this happen.

What To Do 

If you visit Opt Out Prescreen (www.optoutprescreen.com) (a website run by the three major credit bureaus), you can ask to stop receiving these prescreened offers, for a period of five years – or, if you prefer, permanently. You can also arrange this by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888 567-8688). 

Of course, if you want to apply for a credit card, mortgage or any other type of credit,  there are a range of resources online, to figure out what’s best for you. NerdWallet and Credit Karma are two of our favorites, but there are many others. You really won’t be missing out on anything, by eliminating these offers. 

Signing up for Opt Out Prescreen isn’t the only step you should be taking, to reduce the risk of identity theft. You also need to monitor your credit, as well as various spending accounts, and be careful in sharing and storing your personal information. See here for more methods to reduce your risk of identity theft.

Yet, opting out of pre-screened offers is a less-known means of reducing the chances that you’ll fall a victim of this scourge. Give it a try.