Protect yourself from ID theft

There's a way for you to protect yourself from fraud and identity theft while improving your credit card score at the same time.

The Better Business Bureau says it's much easier than you might think.

From email and spam to phone calls from telemarketers and junk mail, they can all be summed up with one word - annoying.

"Spam is a bother, a phone call is a bother,” said Tom Bartholomy, President of the Better Business Bureau in Charlotte.

A website from the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry allows people to keep unwanted credit cards out of their mailbox.

He says an increasing number of consumers are turning to things like the Do-Not-Call Registry and spam blockers. When it comes to junk mail, there's one particular piece of mail you need to watch out for, and that’s credit card offers.

“That's what they're looking for,” he continued. “Those types of opportunities to say ‘Oh look, Jane Smith got this credit card offer, I can just fill it out, change the address, have the card sent to the scammer.’ Boom, you're a victim of credit card fraud."

Even if the cards haven't been activated, they can still lead to fraud or identity theft. There's an easy way to protect yourself. OptOutPrescreen.com allows people to keep unwanted credit cards out of their mailbox.

“This is one of the biggest consumer secrets that's out there right now,” Batholomy added.




"OptOutPrescreen.com has been a great tool that we've used to increase their credit score by as much as 50 points within five days,” said Heather Goodall, an account executive at the First National Bank of Arizona. She says she tells all her customers to opt out of getting credit card offers.

"I don't know of any other tool that you can use and potentially increase your credit score potentially that much in such a short period of time,” she continued.

Bartholomy said, "That's a win, win, win all the way around."

The Better Business Bureau says, unfortunately, there's little people can do to cut down on junk mail. If you'd like to stop getting credit card solicitations, visit OptOutPrescreen.com.