What is the easiest and most common magic trick in the book?  It is making a coin vanish.  It still delights children and is something that almost anyone can do with very little effort or practice.  The same is true of opting out of prequalified credit card offers.  They can be stopped and the process is so simple, you will be surprised at how little effort it takes.

Why Opt Out

Many credit card companies and other companies will access credit information of large groups of people through the standard credit reporting agencies and then extend offers based on certain criteria.  These offers usually come to you as official looking envelopes in your mailbox. 

Some reasons to eliminate these offers could be to reduce the access to your personal information that credit card companies have or to reduce your exposure to data or mail theft.  You may simply want to be rid of junk mail and save your paper shredder for another day.  Whatever the reason, the method is the same.

Opt Out By Phone or Internet

Simply dial 1-888-5-OPT OUT (1-888-567-8688).  There you will need to follow a few prompts and provide the information requested.  Remember, you are not disclosing anything that they don't already have and the personal information is necessary to identify you as the opter-outer.

If you prefer to use the internet go to optoutprescreen.com.  Again you will simply need to fill in the basic information requested.  There is only 1 short page of information to fill out, a box to check on the same screen, and a confirmation page.  If you want to opt out permanently, which is recommended, you will need to print out a separate form provided for you and follow the directions and mail it in.  Don't forget to mail it from a secure location.

Conclusion

This will not stop all offers.  Some companies already have your information, many send "prequalified" or "preapproved" offers when in fact there was no data that they looked at to determine this except that you have an address.  This is a simple step and it will probably have a significant impact on helping you vanish more than just a coin.  A more complete strategy, like using Earth Class Mail to screen you mail, can be found when you get the book How To Vanish.