I Am Receiving Credit Card Offers By Mail – Is It Safe To Accept Them?
If you are receiving credit card offers by mail then you need to realize that thieves can be really creative. Most of us have heard the story of elderly women conned out of their live savings by tricksters calling on crackled, hard to hear phone lines claiming to be downtrodden grandchildren who must have money wired to them immediately to escape foreign prisons and other such tales of trust met with dishonesty. Certainly one way that thieves try to get information to steel money and identities is to call and pretend to be banks and credit card companies, or to send phony applications.
If you receive a credit card application in the mail, or a phone call asking you to apply for a credit card, be smart and careful. Most often these mailed offers are probably on the level, but why take chances? As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so here is what you can do to protect yourself.
Receiving Credit Card Offers by Mail: Watch Out
The truth is that you can get excellent pre-approved credit card offers in the mail. That’s how credit card companies have been soliciting new customers for decades. But today you need to be careful because many wolves can appear in sheep’s clothing.
Every honest credit card deal that you receive in the mail will include a web address where you can go to apply. Look at the address and ensure that it is legitimate. Search it online to ensure that it is real. Then, go straight to the bank’s website to apply for your card, if you decide the offer is too good to resist. Avoid using credit card mail applications; never send your personal information in the mail when you can do it much more safely online. Beware of credit card mail theft.
Another note about receiving credit card offers by mail: if you get an email claiming to be from your bank never provide your user name or password over the email. Always call the listed number of the bank (on your credit card or statement) and talk to someone that way. This is the only way you know for sure that you are talking to someone legitimate.
Be Careful on the Phone
The same is true of the telephone. Every day hundreds of people are duped out of their money by thieves with a good story. Don’t be one of those people. While we all want to trust, you simply have to be suspicious. Again, never give your personal information to anyone who calls you. Do not buy from unsolicited telemarketers. Do not give your credit card or other personal information to anyone who calls you. Instead, if they claim to be from a company that you have a relationship with tell them that you will call back at their listed number and then do so.
You Initiate Contact
If you are receiving credit card offers by mail be careful. Only apply for credit cards using companies that you know are legitimate. Go straight to the bank website. Websites like ours are great for helping you research and get the right information, but when it comes time to apply you want to go straight to the source and apply directly with the credit card company or bank.
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Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on CreditCardIdeas.com is not provided by any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.