How to Opt Out of Prescreened Offers

Quick answer

Use the official OptOutPrescreen service if you want the major nationwide credit bureaus to stop including you on lists for prescreened credit and insurance offers. You can opt out electronically for five years or begin a permanent opt-out that requires returning a signed form. The request does not freeze your credit, close accounts, stop all marketing mail, or prevent you from applying for credit later.

Before entering sensitive information, confirm that you are using OptOutPrescreen.com or calling 1-888-567-8688. Do not use a look-alike site found in an advertisement.

What prescreening actually is

A creditor or insurer sets selection criteria, such as characteristics found in a consumer report. A credit bureau then identifies consumers whose files meet those criteria, or checks a list supplied by the company. The company sends an offer based on that prescreening process.

Prescreened, prequalified, and preapproved do not always mean final approval. The company can still verify that you meet the stated criteria when you respond. Material changes, incomplete information, or other permitted conditions can affect the final result.

The prescreening inquiry is different from the hard inquiry that may occur if you submit a full application. Our soft versus hard inquiry guide explains the distinction. Prescreening itself does not hurt your credit score.

Choose the outcome you actually want

Opting out is a privacy and mail-preference choice. It is not a credit-repair technique and does not remove information from a consumer report.

Five-year opt-out, step by step

1. Go directly to the official OptOutPrescreen website or call the official number.
2. Choose the electronic five-year opt-out.
3. Provide the identifying information needed to match your bureau files.
4. Save the confirmation date and any reference information.
5. Allow time for lists already delivered to marketers to work through the mail cycle.

The service may request your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth to locate the correct files. That is sensitive information, which is why verifying the official channel matters. Review the site's privacy explanation before submitting.

Permanent opt-out has one extra step

The permanent process begins online or by phone, but it is not complete until you sign and return the Permanent Opt-Out Election form. Treat the mailed form as part of the request, not optional paperwork.

Use this mini-checklist:

• Confirm the mailing address printed on the official form.
• Sign where required.
• Keep a copy or scan.
• Note the date you mailed it.
• Consider trackable mail if you want delivery evidence.
• Recheck after enough time has passed for processing and prior lists to expire.

If you move, an address change can affect matching and marketing records. Keep your confirmation and revisit the official service if prescreened offers resume at the new address.

What changes after you opt out

The major bureaus should stop including your information in new prescreening lists covered by the request. Offers can continue for several weeks because a company may already have obtained a list before your request was processed.

You may still receive:

• mail from banks, insurers, or stores you already use;
• offers based on non-bureau marketing lists;
• mail addressed to "resident" or "occupant";
• charity, association, catalog, or local-business mail;
• online ads unrelated to a prescreened bureau list;
• account notices that are not marketing.

Sort incoming mail by its disclosure language before concluding the opt-out failed. Prescreened offers generally contain notices explaining that the offer was based on information in your credit report and telling you how to opt out.

What opting out does not do

It does not freeze your credit

A credit freeze restricts access to your credit file for many new-credit decisions. Opt-out limits prescreened list use. You can use both, one, or neither depending on your goal.

It does not remove inquiries or accounts

Opting out changes future list inclusion. It does not delete legitimate prescreen inquiries already shown, remove tradelines, or change a score.

It does not prevent you from shopping for credit

You can still research offers and apply directly. Opting out only reduces offers initiated through covered prescreening lists.

It does not guarantee identity-theft prevention

Less sensitive mail may reduce material available for mail theft, but it is not a complete identity-protection system. Secure your mailbox, shred sensitive offers, review free credit reports, and consider a freeze when fraud risk is the concern.

A privacy-first way to handle remaining offers

Do not throw intact offers into household trash. Shred pages containing names, addresses, account codes, or application links. If mail is addressed to someone who does not live there, do not use the offer; follow postal guidance for misdelivered mail.

Be skeptical of QR codes or shortened links printed on unexpected offers. If a product interests you, navigate to the issuer's official site independently and compare terms. A familiar logo does not prove a letter or website is authentic.

Read our privacy policy for how Credit Plainly handles site data; we do not process opt-out requests ourselves.

When staying opted in may be reasonable

Some consumers want to compare targeted offers or learn what pricing is available. Staying opted in does not require accepting anything. If you review offers, compare annual percentage rates, fees, introductory periods, eligibility conditions, and what happens after a promotion ends.

The decision is not "good credit" versus "bad credit." It is whether potential offer visibility is worth the additional mail and use of your file for prescreening.

Troubleshooting

Offers continue after several weeks: Check whether they contain prescreen disclosure language. They may come from old lists or a different marketing source.

You chose permanent opt-out but did not mail the form: Restart or complete the signed-form step through the official service.

A look-alike site charged a fee: The official prescreen opt-out service does not require a commercial subscription. Preserve records and report suspected fraud through appropriate official channels.

You want offers again: Use the opt-in option through the same official service.

Bottom line

Choose five years if you want a reversible pause. Choose permanent if you are comfortable completing the mailed election form and want bureau-list prescreening stopped indefinitely. Neither choice changes your creditworthiness; it changes a specific marketing use of your consumer-report information.