Why would my 13 yr old son be getting credit card applications and junk mail?
March 27th, 2009
I have been getting mail with my son’s name on it for credit cards, junk mail, and today was something from “sell your gold”…How do these places obtain names to send crap to? My son hasn’t applied for anything. What does this mean?
And I have no clue what catagory to put this in..so here we go.
Thanks all. I asked him about it today and told him what was in the mail. He said the only thing it could be was some questionaire thing on the internet of course to get extra “AP” for this game 12th Sky he plays. So needless to say, we sat down and had a long talk..and he knows not to ever give his name and address out to anyone. He doesn’t know his ss#, so luckily he didn’t give that out! Whew. I was afraid that maybe his father(not in the picture and is a criminal) who somehow got ahold to his ss# may have been doing something, but when I found out he had it, I put a flag on my son’s ss# a few years ago just in case.
And I have no clue what catagory to put this in..so here we go.
Thanks all. I asked him about it today and told him what was in the mail. He said the only thing it could be was some questionaire thing on the internet of course to get extra “AP” for this game 12th Sky he plays. So needless to say, we sat down and had a long talk..and he knows not to ever give his name and address out to anyone. He doesn’t know his ss#, so luckily he didn’t give that out! Whew. I was afraid that maybe his father(not in the picture and is a criminal) who somehow got ahold to his ss# may have been doing something, but when I found out he had it, I put a flag on my son’s ss# a few years ago just in case.
it doesnt mean anything just rip it up and throw it out. People get your information so easy nowadays like when they call and try to sell you a phone. They just obtain it so just throw it out its all you can do. But make sure you shread it first because of identity fraud x
Your son did something somewhere online that connected his name and address to someone’s guess of a gender and age. That list was then sold.
Maybe he filled out a ballot somewhere for a prize and they sold his name. I had the same problem with my dog.
He might have given out his information on the internet or signed up with a site and stated that he was older than he was. If this is the case then these companies sell their information to other companies.
That is just one of the possibilities. My son did this and started receiving these offers before he was eighteen.
somebody is falling for those online sweepstakes.
he puts his info in, and the website that has his info sells it to a 3rd party. you may want to have a talk :/
internet…anything that might involve using his email or something, they find ways.
If your son uses the internet, he could have gone to a website requiring personal information to sign up. There are also “surveys” you fill out that promise free things for completing them, and most are filled with phisher sites and any time you put in personal information, it’s shared with other companies. Ask if he’s been doing these surveys and tell him that it’s just a scam.
Sounds like you son may have thrown something in the trash with his name on it. These people dumpster dive, among other still legal techniques to obtain personal information.
The sad thing it that if some people didn’t buy this crap to make it profitable, these people who send this stuff out wouldn’t do it anymore. Would you dive in a dumpster for free? (if at all)
he signed up for somthing/ anything with his email and they gave it out to the company. Also having myspace, facebook whatever requires email and the email companies are providing the info to the companys. I do mean anything too yahooligans, game sites…ANYTHING ONLINE
I would actually grab a credit report.He should’nt be getting unless his name or social has been submitted somewhere.
you must pull a copy of his credit file and make sure there is nothing there with all the fraud that is out there. Then place fraud alerts on his credit as well as call and opt out of this pre screened crap that number to call is 1-888-567-8688. Then this crap will drop off soon enough.
It could also be a one in the same name type of thing like John Jones. How many of them do you think are out there?
More than likely your son has too much unsupervised internet time. Most of these mailings are from signing up for some account or prize on the internet. This could be why people tell parents to be careful what they allow their children to do online, as the information is then sold to the companies you listed. Your son applied for something, be it an online game or something else that required his information. Maybe one of those “receive a free laptop” sites.
Somewhere he signed up for something, either online or a magazine subscription, or he bought something and gave out his address, perhaps by filling out a warranty card. Of he could have entered a contest, like at a mall or something, where you fill out a card and drop it in a box. There are a lot of simple and innocent and even legitimate ways a kid could have been lured into giving out his name and address. At some department and even toy stores I’ve been asked for my name and address when buying a simple and inexpensive item, and paying cash. I refuse to give it out, but lots of people do, and I can see how a young boy would just do that without thinking about it or even remembering it. And once an address is “in the system,” it can get sold to other lists, and subsequently to other lists, and bang-o, you’ve got junk mail coming out your ears.
I once entered, mostly as a lark, a contest at a pet store, but instead of putting my own name on the application, I puckishly put down the name of my cat. And for about four years after, my cat received the same sort of stuff you’re now getting, all addressed simply to “Pesky.”
Let him rack up a huge bill. He’s 13 years old He is not responsible for it. . It would serve then right to get screwed for allowing a credit card to a miner. It mite send them a message. But NO US BAIL OUT for this type of business practice.