Unsolicited Mail, Telemarketing and Email: Where to Go To "Just Say No"
by Federal Trade Commission |
| The Commission is headed by five Commissioners, nominated by the President and
confirmed by the Senate, each serving a seven-year term. The President chooses
one Commissioner to act as Chairman. No more than three Commissioners can be of
the same political party. |
Tired of having your mailbox crammed
with unsolicited mail, including pre-approved credit card
applications? Fed up with getting telemarketing calls just as you're
sitting down to dinner? Fuming that your email inbox is chock-full
of unsolicited advertising? The good news is that you can cut down
on the number of unsolicited mailings, calls and emails you receive
by learning where to go to "just say no."
Credit Bureaus
The credit bureaus offer a toll-free number that enables you to
"opt-out" of having pre-approved credit offers sent to you
for two years. Call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (567-8688) for more information.
In addition, you can notify the three
major credit bureaus that you do not want personal information about
you shared for promotional purposes-an important step toward
eliminating unsolicited mail. Write your own letter or use the
sample letter on the bottom of this Alert to limit the amount of
information the credit bureaus will share about you. Send your
letter to each of the three major credit bureaus:
| Equifax,
Inc. |
|
Experian |
|
Trans
Union |
| Options |
|
Consumer
Opt-Out |
|
Marketing
List Opt Out |
| PO
Box 740123 |
|
701
Experian Parkway |
|
PO
Box 97328 |
| Atlanta,
GA 30374-0123 |
|
Allen,
TX 75013 |
|
Jackson,
MS 39288-7328 |
Direct Marketers
The Direct Marketing Association offers the Mail and Telephone
Preference Services, which allow you to reduce the amount of direct
mail marketing and telemarketing you receive from many national
companies for five years.
When you register with these
services, your name will be put on a "delete" file that is
updated four times a year-in January, April, July and October-and
made available to direct-mail and telephone marketers. Two to three
months after your name is entered into the quarterly file, you
should notice a decrease in the number of solicitations you receive.
However, your registration will not stop mailings or calls from
organizations not registered with the DMA's Mail and Telephone
Preference Services.
To have your name deleted from many
direct mail or telemarketing lists, write your own letter or use the
sample letter on the other side of this Alert and mail it to the
following addresses:
| For direct
mail marketing: Direct Marketing Association; Mail
Preference Service; PO Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512 . |
| For
telemarketing: Direct Marketing Association; Telephone
Preference Service; PO Box 1559, Carmel, NY 10512. |
In addition, the DMA recently
launched a new EMail Preference Service to help you reduce
unsolicited commercial emails. To "opt-out" of receiving
unsolicited commercial email, use the Direct Marketing Association's
online form at www.e-mps.org.
Your online request will remain effective for one year.
Department of Motor Vehicles
The Drivers Privacy Protection Act allows states to distribute
personal information only to law enforcement officials, courts,
government agencies, private investigators, insurance underwriters
and similar businesses-but not for direct marketing and other uses.
Sample Opt-Out Letter (Send to
addresses above.)
| Date
To whom it may concern:
I request to have my name
removed from your marketing lists. Here is the information you
have asked me to include in my request:
FIRST, MIDDLE & LAST NAME
(List all name variations, including Jr., Sr., etc.)
______________________________
CURRENT MAILING ADDRESS
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
PREVIOUS MAILING ADDRESS (Fill
in your previous mailing address if you have moved in the last
6 months.) Note: not required by Equifax and Experian.
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER Note:
not required by Equifax.
______________________________
DATE OF BIRTH Note: not
required by Equifax.
______________________________
Thank you for your prompt
handling of my request.
______________________________
Signature |
| The FTC works for the consumer to
prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the
marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop
and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on
any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP
(1-877-382-4357), or use the online complaint form. The FTC enters
Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related
complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database
available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies
U.S. and abroad. |
|
