Stop the Junk Mail and Phone Solicitors

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The New York Times has a good article on getting off the lists of direct marketers. Here are some of the highlights

Phone Solicitations
Got to donotcall.gov to register your phone number. You can do this with your cell.

Junk Mail
You can go to the Direct Marketing Association’s online form to request to be taken off the lists.

E-Mail
Use your e-mail service’s span filter.

Credit Card Offers
I hate these things. Major credit bureaus allow you to opt out for prescreened credit card offers for years by filling out a form here.

Another avenue to stop the credit offers is to the credit freeze. This is the kind of the atomic bomb option. The article suggests only doing this if you think you’ve been the victim of identity theft.

Computer
Get Spybot or Ad-aware to get rid of the spyware. These can be downloaded at download.com.
DoubleClick is a company that that collects data for online marketers. They have a page that shows you how to prevent your computer from giving out info. Lexis Nexis has giant people directory that includes your social security number. You can try to request that your name be taken off the list, but you have to be the victim of identity theft before Lexis will consider it.

Real Estate Filings
Whenever you file a deed, information about you is open to the public. Many companies use government records to compile list of new homeowners so they can send you coupons and the such. There’s not much you can do about this because the records are open to the public. The article suggests getting a lawyer to help in the process.

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4 Comments

1. LHMcKay on 21.01.2007 at 11:04 (Reply)

   Great post Brett. I haven’t done much research into phone solicitation but I have always been curious as to how exactly the donotcall.gov website ensures that you phone number isn’t used for soliciation. Our phone is on the list, yet we still get phone calls from solicitors all the time.

2. The Frugal Law Student on 21.01.2007 at 14:22 (Reply)

   Understand that some calls are not covered. Once your number has been on the registry for 31 days, most telemarketing calls will stop. However, you still may get:

   * calls from — or on behalf of — political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors;
   * calls from companies with whom you have an existing business relationship. A company may call you for 18 months after you make a purchase or three months after you submit an inquiry or application;
   * calls from companies you’ve given permission to call.

3. Andrew Flusche on 21.01.2007 at 21:30 (Reply)

   This is a great post. We did the DMA list and opted out of credit offers. Those two things alone will clean up your mailbox like you wouldn’t believe.

   We get virtually NO sales calls. The trick? We use Vonage. Our number isn’t in the phone book, but we didn’t pay to have it unlisted. Vonage numbers just don’t get listed.

4. The Best of Frugal Law Student 2007 | The Frugal Law Student on 31.12.2007 at 10:18

   […] Netflix worth it? Save $ 375: Fill Out Your Bar Exam Application Early Stop the Junk Mail and Phone Solicitors 25 Ways to Cook an Egg Personal FinanceTips From […]

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