In one fell swoop, you can increase your credit score and cut down on the likelihood that anyone could "hijack" your credit by opting out of receiving unsolicited offers of credit.

Within 7 days of "opting out" of such unsolicited credit offers either by going online or by calling into the federally mandated system, the credit bureaus can "see" that you have removed yourself from all "special offers" of new credit for at least 5 years (there is also a permanent removal process available). This often results in boost in credit score of between 4 and 20 credit score points.

We had a client who "opted out." Two weeks later when he re-pulled the client's credit, her score had gone up 14 points.

While 14 points of increase is not jaw-dropping, achieving a credit score (often referred to in the vernacular, though this is somewhat inaccurate, as a "FICO" score) increase as a result of doing nothing but removing yourself from databases (that would otherwise be reviewed, processed and from which mail would be generated) is significant.

Additional benefits of opting out will be that you will receive less mail that you would otherwise have to sort through (and dispose of in a secure manner) Also, you can curtail possible identity theft from "dumpster diving" and/or stolen mail (which could be diverted to another address and used to establish a fraudulent credit account using your name and credit).

The year 2006 has been a watershed one for major security breaches of the databases of Fortune 500 financial services companies. These breaches reached the level of national news this year and have been a huge embarrassment for the likes of credit vendors and

providers. Tens of millions of people were potentially affected. In these cases, personal information being laid bare, including Social Security numbers, PINs, passwords, etc., has not been from hackers but due to failed internal procedures at these companies or plain ineptitude on their part.

There may have been some resulting identity theft to these mistaken public postings of data, but federal regulators estimate that the majority of identity theft is still decidedly low tech, i.e., the above-mentioned dumpster diving and stolen credit card offers. The follow up theft of the actual credit card applied for - again, taken straight from any normal (not mail-slot-in-door) mailbox - once the illicitly-applied-for card is approved and mailed, is hard to prevent. Simply not receiving such offers can severely limit criminal opportunity.

The credit score increase is simply a surprising bonus.

Opt out now by either calling (888) 567-8688 or online at www.optoutprescreen.com. Follow the prompts on the phone or the instructions online. You will be required to give your name, address. Your Social Security number and date of birth are not required to process the request, however, these may ensure that the request is processed properly. The site should be secure. Disinclusion for credit or insurance offers is good for 5 years.

In order to permanently opt-out, you must also print out (or receive by mail), complete, sign, and mail back the Permanent Opt-Out Election Form.

Assuming that you are set with a few credit cards and you know you need only call us for your mortgage needs, let's all Opt Out of promotional credit inquiries and unsolicited offers of credit. This will cut down on how much mail you receive and remove one avenue by which identity thieves might otherwise take advantage of your credit