Do you get pre-approved credit card applications in the mail every week? The amount of junk mail we all get is out of hand and it seems that these applications keep coming more and more frequently. I have to make sure I shred them and not just throw them away as these pre-approved applications are just what an identity thief is looking for!
One of the main ways an ID thief gets your personal information is by stealing your mail. One of the things he is always glad to find is a pre-approved application for a credit card of any type. If they find one of these applications, identity thieves will change your address to their address or PO box and then send it in. They are hoping to get a brand new credit card sent to them in your name without you even knowing it!
Since you have not requested any of these applications, you will never know if one has been stolen out of your mailbox. If it were something that you requested, then after a while you will realize you never got it and follow up with the company. However, since these pre-approved applications are unsolicited, it impossible for you to ever know that one was sent to you in the first place!
That is why it is so important for you to shred all your finacial statements and junk mail. It really should be against the law for these companies to be sending out pre filled credit card applications that anyone can get a hold of. An ID thief is always on the lookout for something like that that he can use to pretend to be you and send in. Department store credit applications are a similar type of mail that you need to make sure you shred.
If an identity theif steals your mail, you may never know what kind of trouble you are in until it is too late. He may be able to charge a sizable amount on a credit card that will cause you months to fix. He may also change more of your addresses and cause chaos in many untold ways. It is a violation that is just as bad and feels just as bad as having a burglar break into your house. That is why these credit card applications are so bad and should be banned.
If your mail is stolen and the ID thief pretends to be you and sends in your application, you will not even know about it until it is too late. So beware and shred that junk mail that has any of your personal information on it. You need to make it as hard as possible for idenity theft to happen.
