Get Rid of Junk Mail:
O For severe infestation contact http://www.41pounds.org/ and sign up for 5 years of protection for just $41.00. They donate more than 1/3 of your fee to environmental or community organizations–you choose.
Junk mail production makes as much pollution every year as 2.6 million cars!
Social Security:
O Review your Earnings and Benefits Statement carefully for errors once a year. Order a free copy by calling (800) 772-1213.
Credit Ratings and Credit Fraud:
O Reduce the number of pre-approved offers you get by requesting these credit bureaus remove your name from their lists: Experian (800) 353-0809 Equifax (800) 219-1251 TransUnion (800) 241-2858.
O Every quarter carefully check your free credit report from one of the three credit bureaus by contacting the only authorized source at www.annualcreditreport.com OR by calling (877) 322-8228.
Opt Out of ‘Prescreened’ Credit Offers:
O Go to www.optoutprescreen.com or call (888) 567-8688) to protect yourself, elderly family members and college-aged kids from solicitations of creditors. This improves your credit rating as well!
Government Agencies: Birth, Marriage, Home Purchase, & Death
O Public records of all our major life events are sold to advertisers. Call the largest dealer, Acxiom, at their Consumer Advocate Hotline (877) 774-2094. OR go to www.acxiom.com and hit the ‘Contact Us’ link to request an opt-out form.
Terminate Unwanted Catalogs:
O Contact Abacus at optout@abacus-direct.com or write Abacus, PO Box 1478, Broomfield CO 80093.
Supply your address and the full names of everyone in your household or company.
Prevent Your Internet Browsing Data from being shared:
O Register at www.networkadvertising.org to opt out of advertisers selling your browsing ‘cookies’.
Reporting ID Theft or Credit Fraud: (Hope you never need these resources. But, just in case…)
Equifax (800) 525-6285
Experian (800) 301-7195
Trans Union (800) 680-7289
Social Security Administration fraud line (800) 269-0271
Federal Trade Commission ID Theft Hotline (877) 438-4338
The FTC ID Theft website provides guidelines for identity theft victims: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/recovering_idt.html