PhxBlue's Journal: Have you checked your credit lately?

Do I need to spell out, in this day and age where identity theft runs rampant, how important it is to check your credit regularly?

I checked mine today, through Equifax's $9.00 report. It only gives me the record as Equifax has it, but it's my experience that the three credit reporting bureaus will match in terms of actual credit information. I'm happy to report that my credit still looks good, at least as far as I can tell.

I also noticed that a lot of companies requested information on my name and address through Equifax, via what the company calls "PRM," or promotional inquiry. It defines the PRM as, "A promotional inquiry in which your name and address were given to a lender for credit offers, such as credit card solicitations."

Not cool. I don't need any more credit cards than I have already, nor do I need to refinance my home mortgage. I don't need deceptive mailings that are made to look like checques (ie., "Pay to the order of..." with amounts of $50,000, etc.).

Fortunately, as a bonus for ordering the report, I glommed some information on how to--theoretically--stop Equifax from sharing this information: write a letter to Equifax's Options office with a request to opt out. Include your name, mailing addres, and SSN/Tax ID (it won't kill you, they already have it anyway). The mailing address is:

Options
Equifax, Inc.
P.O. Box 740123
Atlanta, GA 30374-0123

They also included instructions on how to opt-out from mail sent through the Direct Marketing Association, though their instructions are a bit out of date. For best results, hit this link and either mail in the form (37) or have it filed electronically ($5). Again, I'm not 100% sure how well this will work. I'll come back in a month or two, once I find out for myself.