Those unsolicited credit card offers in your mailbox leave you vulnerable. Here's how to get them to stop

"While not as incessant as all the spam emails and text messages we get every day, unsolicited credit card offers are definitely one of the annoyances of modern life. The offers are sent by credit card companies via the U.S. Postal Service and arrive in our physical mailboxes without request. Yet unlike many types of digital spam, these unsolicited credit card offers aren't illegal to send."

"The offers are permissible under the decades old Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and other subsequent laws, which allow credit card companies to approach the major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, Innovis, and TransUnion) with a wishlist of the type of customers they are looking for (ones in a certain ZIP code or with a certain credit score, for example)."

"The credit card companies then "pre-approve" these individuals and send the offer in an unsolicited letter. Provided that the recipient still meets the credit requirements when they reply, they are legally entitled to that offer. Pre-approved offers differ from "pre-qualified" offers in that, with pre-approved offers, the credit card company is essentially scouting you as a customer. With "pre-qualified" offers, you have to take the initiative to contact the credit card company, telling them that you are interested in applying for a card."

Unsolicited credit card offers arrive by U.S. Postal Service without recipient request and are not illegal. The Fair Credit Reporting Act and subsequent laws permit credit card companies to query major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, Innovis, and TransUnion) for lists of desirable consumers by ZIP code or credit score. Credit card companies then "pre-approve" selected individuals and mail unsolicited offers; recipients who still meet credit requirements when they reply are legally entitled to the offer. "Pre-approved" differs from "pre-qualified" because pre-approved involves proactive selection by the company, while pre-qualified requires the consumer to initiate contact. Tossing unopened offers can leave recipients and their finances vulnerable.

Read at Fast Company