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Found some old recommendations I sent out to friends that weren't too tek savvy. It's fairly basic info that most should know.

I was looking into Life Lock and started reading what they actually do, which is in the fine print of their terms of service here.

http://www.dmachoice.org/ it's the primary service Life Lock uses to get you off of mailing lists and it's free. They also have some good info on how to keep secure online. There are several items you can go through to have your self removed form email and mail lists.

Then go to https://www.donotcall.gov/ and register your phone numbers for the do not call list.

Then go to https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ to remove your self from the credit card pre-approval lists.

If you want free credit reports use this site. https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp You can get 1 free report every year from each of the 3 reporting agencies. If you break it up you could get 1 every 2 month. I could get one from Equifax this month. Then in 2 months my wife could get one for them. Then in 2 months I could get one from TransUnion. etc... The reason to get them is mostly to see who has been looking at your credit. Then make sure all the loans are yours.

Now for your online stuff. Get an email account at google or some place else that you can use for those online registration things that you need to do from time to time. Use that account only for things that you are unsure about. Keep another account for the more important stuff like the banks. You could even have a 3rd account for your general email.

Most web browsers have an option too clear the cache and cookies. Look for it. In Safari on Mac look under the Safari menu then select Reset Safari... On Windows it's under the File Menu. In Firefox you need to look in the Preferences and the Security tab. Resetting and clearing out the cookies will also clear saved passwords. The reason to do this is because many web sites set tokens on your web browser called cookies that allow them to track you and what you do online. They can see where you are going and what you do online. For Windows this is a big problem because there are ways to install applications on the system without you knowing. Then your computer can be used to send email spam to others or even be used remotely to take over other computers. This is really only a problem on Windows but for Macs they can still track your online usage and figure things out about you that might make it easier to get you to click on something that would install an application that could take over your computer.

For email. Set your email program to not automatically read your mail and try to use the built-in spam filters. Also set the options to not download in-line pictures and such. The pictures in spam can be used to also track you and verify your email address. If you and I get the same piece of spam the picture will actually not be in the email it's actually a picture on a web server someplace. The name of the picture is unique to each spam email so when your mail program tries to access the picture from the internet the spammers computer ticks off the unique name your computer used to get the picture. That unique name is associated with your email address.

Tips: paperkarma, optoutprescreen.

I did http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ and it stopped the majority of the most annoying junk mail. The kind that might let someone start a credit card in my name if they intercept it....

More options are here: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0262-stopping-unsolicited-mail-phone-calls-and-email

I have yet to try dmachoice, has anyone tried it?

There is no way in hell I'm supplying a social security number online to some unknown entity.

I did http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ and it stopped the majority of the most annoying junk mail. The kind that might let someone start a credit card in my name if they intercept it....

More options are here: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0262-stopping-unsolicited-mail-phone-calls-and-email

I have yet to try dmachoice, has anyone tried it?

A lot of people are using this as an excuse to complain about all the junk mail they get. Why don't you do something about it? Cancel all the catalogs and crap you're getting.

Start here: http://www.optoutprescreen.com/

If you get stuff with pre-paid return envelopes, send back a note asking to be removed from their mailing list.

You might want to try OptOutPrescreen (the link to the external site is in the wiki article: http://www.optoutprescreen.com). It's a joint venture between Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and TransUnion that allows you to opt out of pre-screened credit card and insurance offers for a period of 5 years or, if you wish, permanently. That alone will slash the risk of identity theft substantially. Of course, you will no longer receive credit offers in the mail but most Americans need another credit card like they need a hole in the head so it's probably for the best.

I work for a company which handles analytics and warehousing for few clients for direct marketing. I personally developed parts of the system to filter out various opt-out - like DNC, DDNC, DMP (DMA Mail Preference) - lists from our various DBs. It does help both sides. It's just that in stead of opt-out, it should default to opt-in.

For those unaware, you can register your name/address with DMA opt out, and most of the companies would honor the list - https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/regist.action

For pre-approved credit-card offers, you can opt out at https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

Simply by adding my name to these two, I have reduced junk mails by 80-90%.

1.) www.gethuman.com - type in a company name...
2a.) I feel that button-pressing and voice recognition can and should coexist.
2b.) Voice recognition would work better with a few minor tweaks.
3.) I think the conversational phrases are annoying too, but ...

Good points all, though here are some follow-up / continuation comments, some of which you mentioned.

The GetHuman site is useful, but not companies all are listed and some of those that are not don't have humans waiting. For example, OptOutPrescreen is completely automated. Furthermore, it doesn't seem to recognize button-presses past a certain point. Thank GOD the identical functionality is available via the web - as mentioned by the voice system.

Along that last theme, yes they should co-exist, but many sites that support voice recognition seem to be dropping button interaction. For many things, buttons are faster. Case in point, buttons are always faster for menu selection and, almost universally, support type-ahead. With voice systems, one must usually wait for the question to be completely asked before answering, or if it supports interruption, repeat your answer - or repeat it anyway whenever it doesn't understand you (rinse and repeat).

Lastly, button systems are more private. Granted one should be mindful of one's surroundings before placing a potentially sensitive call, but you can see where I'm going with this... "To access your STD test results, say HERPES."

Yes! Same here. And that site is

www.optoutprescreen.com

I share everyone's frustration that you have to opt out of a process by which another entity can expose you to the risk of identify theft, but I can personally attest that this site is effective. I have even moved a few times since I signed up, and still remain opted-out.

There are some pretty straightforward things you can do to protect yourself from identity theft, without paying any money.

You can opt out of getting unsolicited credit card offers at optoutprescreen.com. (Here is a link to them from an FTC web page so you can tell they're legit.)

You can also make a habit of getting an annual free credit report from annualcreditreport.com. This can help you to detect if something goofy is going on. (Link from FTC. It's run by the credit reporting companies, and as you go through the process, they'll try hard to sell you on getting non-free services as well. You have to watch carefully, and not accept the defaults.)

IIRC there is also a process for locking your credit reports completely, but it costs money unless you can demonstrate that you've already been a victim of fraud.

Until they start locking up the directors of capital-one and other similar companies (that do snail mail spam), what right do they have to lock up email spammers? I hate spam as much as the next person, but it is no different.

It takes some research but you can opt out of at least some of those offers. For instance OptOutPrescreen.com let's you opt out of credit card offers.

You do realize you have a choice to opt out of those pesky pre-screening offers. https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

Careful, your ignorance is showing. Do you honestly believe there are no ways to block junk mail before it is delivered? Here's a helpful exercise: every time you find something you don't know, throw it into Google and skim the first five links or so. Here's what my 10 seconds of casual effort dug up:

This will block 90%+ of junk mail, and I actually signed up months ago. The only junk mail I get is a local free newspaper that just gets stuffed into every box regardless.
http://www.dmaconsumers.org/consumerassistance.php

This thing is pure gold. It will block ALL of those "pre-approved" credit card offers. You know the ones, they come with a 29.99% APR, a $650 limit, and yearly fees? Well, at least the ones my wife gets do. I signed up on this thing and I haven't had a single one since.
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

As far as I know there's no universal "don't send me junk mail" program, but there are a couple lists you can sign up for that will dramatically reduce the amount of junk mail you receive.

To get rid of most "pre-approved" credit card offers, there's an official opt-out program. This is free and it does, in fact, work.

To get rid of a bunch of other junk mail (like catalogs etc), you can add yourself to the Direct Marketing Association's opt-out list at their website. This used to cost a small amount ($1, I think), but it's now free--they ask for a credit card number only for verification purposes. I guess they wouldn't want an interested party to suddenly find themselves bereft of junk mail or something.

Between those two, you're pretty much covered. I signed up for both of them and I receive very little unwanted mail.

You should check out this website:

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

Its there if you actually try to find it, instead of just whining about it. The biggest difference between e-mail spam and junk mail is that you can usually opt out of junk mail, but trying to opt out of spam is likely to just get you marked as a "live fish" and put on the "spam faster" list.

For pre-approved credit cards: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/
Other opt-out info: http://clarkhoward.com/advice/toss_telemarketers.html

If you want to stop all the pre-screen credit card offers, opt out.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescre en.shtm/

http://www.optoutprescreen.com/

This got an insightful mod? Give me a fucking break. Yes, I've been on /. for four years, have over 2,000 posts and good karma but I'm trying to provide a link so I can scam people's personal information! That must be it!

You don't trust the site I linked? Go look at this one from the FTC then. It gives you a number (888-5-OPTOUT) to call if you'd rather do that then fill out the online form. It also links to a website, which is (surprise, surprise) the same one that I provided.

Unless you think the FTC is providing you with a link to a phishing site I really don't see what the problem is.

You can also reduce the amount of credit card spam by opting out with the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry.

I have and, although I still get the occasional offer from my bank and stock broker, it has reduced the amount of credit card spam a lot.

Actually, most freeze laws (at least the one in New York, which I'm most familiar with) do not stop the pre-approval offers that are clogging your mailbox. The most effective way to do this is to "opt-out" with all four CRAs. You can do that here. A five year opt-out is completely online. For a permanent one you need to sign a letter and mail it back to them. This is what I did.

Regardless of whether or not you freeze your credit (not everybody can) everybody should do this. Opt-out with all four agencies and follow up with them a few months later to make sure they actually did it. Three (Trans Union, Equifax, Innovis) processed it properly for me but Experian never did until I followed up with them.

Here's the official site to stop credit card application/insurance mailings:

http://www.optoutprescreen.com/

The post office has to use more fuel to carry all the extra weight in their vehicles.

The post office has to do the same route every day whether they deliver you one piece of mail or 10. Even if they don't have mail for you, they have mail for your neighbors so they have to travel down your road anyway. Driving the route is the biggest contributor of fuel expenses, junk mail just makes it slightly more inefficient. I normally get about 22 mpg on my truck. Towing a trailer around with 1000 pounds of weight in it makes me get about 21 mpg even on hilly routes.

I have to get it from the mail box

Do you check your mail daily? Does carrying a couple ounces of mail to your dwelling cause you so much wear and fuel that you can measure it?

The DMA companies didn't buy my shredder for me, they don't spend 15 minutes shredding junk every week, and they don't subsidize the cost of fuel for the garbage truck that stops at every house to pick up what most likely amounts to tons of extra garbage weight a year.

I don't own a shredder. I heat my house with wood (hey, my heat is carbon neutral and cheaper than oil/coal/gas/electric though it is offset by manual labor) and I save my junk mail to use as starter paper to get the kindling going. It saves me from having to buy paper or starter fluid to get my fires going. Also, even with an extended amount of time, good luck putting my mail back together to get sensitive info when it has all turned to a mishmash of ashes in the bottom of my wood stove. As for my garbage, again, it is the same as the post office. The majority of the fuel is spent just driving to my house. The weight of junk mail is a pittance compared to that. I throw away an average of 3 bags of garbage a week. If I threw away my junk mail, it would be a small fraction of that.

They also don't care if some meth head stops by my mailbox, steals my junk mail, and uses one of the dozens of free credit card offers to steal my identity and start me down the road of a ruined credit rating.

Opt out of prescreened credit offers
Opt out of all DMA members mailing lists
Opt out of all DMA members phone calling lists
Join the federal do no call list

These programs really work... smart DMA people don't want to sell to people who don't like them. It wastes their time and resources to annoy you. Since joining just the federal do not call list, my telemarketing has dropped to near zero (only exceptions being companies I've done business with, politicians and political surveys (yeah, I'm one of those people who gets 1-2 survey calls a month)).

Spam is much, much more annoying to me than junk mail is. Telemarketing probably ranks higher than spam though since it is an immediate interruption in what I'm doing so someone can try to pitch something at me. Email I read at my leisure. It takes me a couple seconds to toss out my junk mail once a day since the envelopes are pretty obvious. I spend much more time making sure spamassassin is correctly classifying spam/ham, setting up whitelists and blacklists, etc than I do dealing with junk mail. Overaggressive filters means I could lose important emails if I don't scan through things carefully. I've never tossed away valid mail (though sometimes I will open a strange looking mail to make sure isn't something important).

At the end of the day, I'm at least wasting the junk mailers money if they send me crap to my mailbox. Even with a bulk rate, they're limited to how much they can send out by the expense of printing it and putting a stamp on it. Spammers incur almost no cost to send out an unlimited amount of garbage. I get 100 spams a day averaging at least 30 megs a month. I have to spend time making sure my network doesn't turn into a bots, cleaning out friends machines which were turned into bots, etc.

I'm 22 and have never once received a credit card solicitation. Opt out of them here https://www.optoutprescreen.com. They ask for your social but it's ran by the credit reporting agencies that already have it anyways.

This website is a dream: Opt-out prescreen

This obviously doesn't stop loan consolidation mail, but it works for credit card and other junk mail that can potentially be used to steal your identity if mishandled (aka not shredded and just tossed). I know what you are saying about the scare tactics. Credit cards are sneakier and they don't even label the envelope anymore, and you only know what it is after you open it.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Consumer Credit Reporting Companies are permitted to include your name on lists used by creditors or insurers to make firm offers of credit or insurance that are not initiated by you ("Firm Offers"). The FCRA also provides you the right to "Opt-Out", which prevents Consumer Credit Reporting Companies from providing your credit file information for Firm Offers.

One smart thing to do if you're concerned about your privacy is to go to optoutprescreen.com and opt out of receiving unsolicited credit card offers. A lot of people become victims of identity theft because someone gets ahold of one of these offers, and obtains a credit card in their name. You can also look at your own credit report, for free, three times a year at annualcreditreport.com. If you're super paranoid, you can also freeze your credit files so that no new credit can be issued to you unless you unfreeze your files first; however, it costs money and it's a hassle, so it's really more of a reasonable option for people who have already been victims of identity theft (and IIRC it's free in that situation).

You can at least opt out of the pre-screened offers: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ AFAIK, the feds don't give you that option! :)

You can exclude yourself from the pre-screen lists at www.optoutprescreen.com/

Thanks, I didn't know that. I may go ahead and optout as I don't like getting all the offers I get and I'm concerned about throwing them away as someone else may be able to use them for id theft.

Technically, the company making a "pre-approved" offer hasn't actually seen your credit report. They simply ask the reporting agency to give them a list of names/addresses for people that meet a certain criteria. You give them permission to make the full inquiry when you return the application.

You can exclude yourself from the pre-screen lists at http://www.optoutprescreen.com/. I'm a bit concerned about the legitimacy of the site, but I've found multiple referrals to it from legitimate sources, including the FTC. If you aren't convinced, you can download the printed form from the site and snail-mail it to the three reporting agencies. The snail-mail method is required for permanent opt-out, anyway.

if you haven't done so already, i highly suggest using the optout program to stop receiving CC offers https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

I did this a year ago and i get no CC offers in the mail AT ALL. it is a great program. it is also 100% legit FTC Gov't Site Explaining Program

Yes, the link is here . I thought it was a scam at first but this page from the FTC links to them. Both my fiance and I have taken advantage of this and it works like a charm.

Yes, the credit reporting agencies already have that information, AND they already sell it if you have not Opted Out . This link is to the official site that lets you opt-out online, you can find the same link with Google keywords "opt out credit"

Those credit card offers in the mail that offer pre-approved cards are often based on information pulled from lists created and sold by the credit reporting agencies. This is an opt-out list, if you haven't told them not to sell your info, they are selling it to credit companies, insurance companies and debit collectors.

If you are interested in privacy, opt out now.

Yes, the credit reporting agencies already have that information, AND they already sell it if you have not Opted Out. This link is to the official site that lets you opt-out online, you can find the same link with Google keywords "opt out credit"

Those credit card offers in the mail that offer pre-approved cards are often based on information pulled from lists created and sold by the credit reporting agencies. This is an opt-out list, if you haven't told them not to sell your info, they are selling it to credit companies, insurance companies and debit collectors.

If you are interested in privacy, opt out now.

All I have to say about any of this:

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

Seriously, go there right now. I haven't received a pre-approved card mailing from anyone other than my current card company for the last 2 years.

If you opt out via the web there's an option to opt-out forever. It's suppoed to work even if you move - I just moved, and haven't seen any credit card offers so far, but it's too early to be sure.

On first glance, this site looks awefully phoney. However, it is linked to from TransUnion's site here so that gives it a little more credibility. Make sure to add the "s" to make your link secure: like this.

For those concerned about the site (https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ the FTC links right to them: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescre en.htm

The FTC has a good list of where to go to opt-out of pre-approved credit offers as well as direct marketers. The 888 number you gave is still valid, as is optoutprescreen, mentioned elsewhere in the comments here.

Do yourself a favor and opt out here: http://www.optoutprescreen.com/

I recently built a house and used a few credit cards heavily to shuffle funds around for a year or so during the build. Since we applied for a couple cards, and also obtained a home equity line of credit as part of the process, we found ourselves deluged with card and loan applications. "Deluged" as in "four or five per day". Waaaaaay too much shredding to suit me.

After a few months of frustration, I finally did some research and found that all three of the primary credit reporting agencies share credit with banks looking for customers, but they also all share the equivalent of a "Do Not Call" list for credit card apps. You can visit http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ and sign up to get your name off these lists, for either lifetime or two years.

I did this several months ago, while it took about a month, we're consistently down to a couple applications a week at most. (Almost all the remaining applications come from Capitol One, despite our repeated calls requesting that they stop. Scumbags.)

One other note: to get your name on the opt-out list, you have to provide some sensitive data. I did quite a bit of research before trusting this opt-out, but all that I found indicated they were trustworthy, and after all, they already have all the data anyway, so I wasn't giving them anything new. But do your own research anyway - don't trust me.

Do yourself a favor and opt out here: http://www.optoutprescreen.com/

I recently built a house and used a few credit cards heavily to shuffle funds around for a year or so during the build. Since we applied for a couple cards, and also obtained a home equity line of credit as part of the process, we found ourselves deluged with card and loan applications. "Deluged" as in "four or five per day". Waaaaaay too much shredding to suit me.

After a few months of frustration, I finally did some research and found that all three of the primary credit reporting agencies share credit with banks looking for customers, but they also all share the equivalent of a "Do Not Call" list for credit card apps. You can visit http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ and sign up to get your name off these lists, for either lifetime or two years.

I did this several months ago, while it took about a month, we're consistently down to a couple applications a week at most. (Almost all the remaining applications come from Capitol One, despite our repeated calls requesting that they stop. Scumbags.)

One other note: to get your name on the opt-out list, you have to provide some sensitive data. I did quite a bit of research before trusting this opt-out, but all that I found indicated they were trustworthy, and after all, they already have all the data anyway, so I wasn't giving them anything new. But do your own research anyway - don't trust me.

Ah, you beat me to it -- I used this phone number two years ago to stop pre-approved credit offers, and have been extremely satisfied with the results. Some more information on opting out of credit offers, insurance offers, and other annoyances that arrive in your mailbox:

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

http://opt-out.cdt.org/

Go to https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ and opt out of credit card offers.

From the http://www.ftc.gov/ websight: "1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ for details" This will prevent companies from pre-approving you for credit stuff. Cut down my mail by half.

Better than a shredder, ask the banks to stop sending you the applications in the first place: http://www.optoutprescreen.com/. I used to receive several per month, now I get two per year.

You can opt out of pre-approved credit card offers, which may help you. Just go to the official opt-out website: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

I hope this will give me a "smaller profile" with respect to the identity thieves, in that I won't have all this account activity going on all the time. Some of the ID thief rings seem to be watching for these "in transit." Well, now my numbers won't be in transit as much.

By the way, you probably shouldn't just click on the link above. I mean, this is Slashdot after all. I could be an evil phisher trying to dupe you*. Always consider the source.

*I'm not, of course, but you really have no way of knowing that based on what I say.

Or better yet, go to this website: Opt Out Prescreen This one would send opt-out info to all FOUR credit reporting bureaus, including the "secret" credit bureau Innovis.

Opt Out Prescreen I opted out w/this website (it would send the info to all 4 credit reporting bureaus with my opt-out info), and within 5 days, my daily preapproved credit offers went to virtually zero.