"Those "pre‑approved" offers are basically advertisements. They look official, but they typically don't contain enough sensitive information for someone to open an account in your name. Credit card junk mailers usually just include your name and address. Yes, sometimes there's an "offer code," but opening a new credit card requires more than that. A thief would need your Social Security number and also have to go through additional steps to verify your information."
"The idea that someone could grab a mailer out of your trash and use it to open a credit card in your name is mostly outdated. That said, identity theft is a serious problem-it's just that it's much more likely to happen from something like an online data breach than from physical mail."
A homeowner struggles with accumulating credit card and loan offer mailers, with her husband insisting all offers must be shredded due to identity theft concerns. The husband's shredder is undersized and underutilized, creating a workflow problem. Financial advice clarifies that pre-approved offers are primarily advertisements containing only name and address information. Opening a fraudulent credit card requires additional sensitive data like a Social Security number and verification steps. Identity theft from physical mail is largely outdated; modern theft typically occurs through online data breaches. Simply tearing offers by hand or recycling them directly poses minimal risk compared to the inconvenience of maintaining an overwhelmed shredding system.
Read at Slate Magazine
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