When I receive these "prescreened" offers of credit, do they go in and check my credit rep

I just received a copy of my credit report and there are a **** load of credit inquiries. The kicker is, I havent applied for any credit for quite some time. I do receive credit card offers in the mail all the time, would that be it? I%26#039;m talking like 6-8 inquires already this year. Where the hell are they coming from and is my score suffering because of it? Thanks!!

When I receive these %26quot;prescreened%26quot; offers of credit, do they go in and check my credit report before hand?

The prescreened credit inquiries are what is called a %26quot;soft inquiry%26quot; or a sneak peak of your file.. They really just get a query of people who meet their minimum standards and send you an application out.. These are only visible by you and do not reflect a decrease in score..

However, any time you apply for any service (could be phone, cable, electricity, etc), your credit will be examined.. Normally, any application for utilities service (the ones mentioned above) results in no change to your score..

It is recommended however to opt out of these credit offers, to reduce possibility of identity theft.. .

When I receive these %26quot;prescreened%26quot; offers of credit, do they go in and check my credit report before hand?

You can opt out of these. Call 1-888-5OPTOUT.

When I receive these %26quot;prescreened%26quot; offers of credit, do they go in and check my credit report before hand?

They do not check your credit before hand, not in the respect that someone at, say, a car dealer would if you were buying a car.

What happens is they are trolling for potential customers, and are looking for things that might indicate you are a good candidate. These are done by automated programs that use a scoring system. They are not supposed to count against your credit rating, but can.

If you have enough items in your file to trigger their program, they send you an application. It%26#039;s only if you fill it out and send it in do they actually look at your file to see what all is in there.

You can request (in writing to Equifax and the other credit agencys) that they quit allowing your file to be scanned this way.

Zeba

http://www.BeatTheDebtMonster.com

When I receive these %26quot;prescreened%26quot; offers of credit, do they go in and check my credit report before hand?

I wouldnt think that companys could check your credit without your social security number or some other unique form of ID.

There must be hundreds of people nationwide with your name, or anyones name for that matter.

You may be applying for credit without your realizing it. Every time you sign up for a different cell phone plan or cable tv/internet etc your credit is checked. All these places check your credit before they allow service.

It may also be someone applying for credit in your name (such as identity theft). Keep a VERY close watch on your credit in the near future.

When I receive these %26quot;prescreened%26quot; offers of credit, do they go in and check my credit report before hand?

The %26quot;prescreened%26quot; offers are soft hits to your credit %26amp; do not affect your score. The creditor submits a list of general requirements to the credit bureau %26amp; gets back a list of everyone that meets those standards. This does not guarantee that you will be approved for the offer when you apply. With your application they will do a more complete look at your record, which will affect your score. If they find something that disqualifies you, you will still be turned down.