Opt Out Prescreen: cut down on email spam

You’ve seen the come-ons. Probably dozens of them. “Click here to get your free credit report.” In the “upsell” you are made to believe that to receive your report you must subscribe to one of the credit bureau’s reporting services for $10 to $22 per month.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) passed in 2003, your free report can be requested by telephone, mail, or through the government-authorized website. The FTC warns web surfers not to get taken in by look-a-likes.

Once you have responded to one of the credit bureau’s offers, your email address is captured and sold to other credit bureaus. That is why you receive these offers almost daily.

Consumer Credit Reporting Companies are permitted by FCRA to sell—officially called sharing--your name on lists used by creditors or insurers to make firm offers of credit or insurance even though you did not request those offers. Once they have your email address, they can use it to get your address so your mailbox could also be filling up.

Identity Theft Shield administered by Kroll Industries does not operate that way. Your entire visit through this site goes untracked. If you decide you want more information about Kroll’s vastly superior monitoring and restitution services, you will be taken to my secure corporate site. The company never collects your email.

Read the full scope of Identity Theft Shield's coverage.