Wonder how this happened...creepy!

[BOBOT]

DW gets credit card offers fairly often, & we shred the pre-filled applications & toss them.
Today she got one from one of the major issuers, & I happened to notice that it was addressed to her using her last name before we were married 31 yrs ago! We moved from the state we were married in 30 yrs ago, & she hasn't used anything but her "new" last name since.
Any ideas what might be going on?

 

[samclem]

Any ideas what might be going on?

Maybe this is how a guy finds out . . .lots of reasons a gal might start using her maiden name again . . .

 

[Sunset]

How about very old database of accounts with SSN, so the system corrected the address prior to mailing out ?

I've noticed these CC offers are not very coordinated, I get one and don't even open it , then the next week I get one with the same offer plus bonus $150. Obviously they practically randomly send them out as they don't wait long enough to get back a mailed response.

 

[Hermit]

I've been getting steak offers for my Mom for years. Followed me all over the country. DM never lived with me and died about 20 years ago.

 

[MRG]

Those companies have, and legally purchase data. Normally names and addresses, it's safe to assume any public records are available too. They merge all the sets of data together. Depending on what is recorded and their matching process interesting combinations occur.

Deceased folks data seldom get exponged from the data providers as they get paid by the the number of records.

 

[utrecht]

How about very old database of accounts with SSN, so the system corrected the address prior to mailing out ?

I've noticed these CC offers are not very coordinated, I get one and don't even open it , then the next week I get one with the same offer plus bonus $150. Obviously they practically randomly send them out as they don't wait long enough to get back a mailed response.

How do you know the second offer is the same as the first one, plus $150 bonus if you didnt open the first one?

 

[splitwdw]

Bobot, I have a "friend" that will give out your name and address for sign up offers. Maybe a old friend did the same to your wife.

 

[Alan]

DD left home in 1997 and never moved back, not even in the same State since 1999, married in 2001 so a new name as well. Since she last shared an address with us in 1997 we have moved 5 times including 2 moves to different States, and we had not received any spam mail for her in many years. She has also moved State 3 times, now lives in California. Then, a few weeks before we left on this vacation we received 2 letters for her from CC companies so obviously some software somewhere has connected her married name to our address, and I really have no ideas on how these connections are made so that some company starts spending money on solicitation offers.

 

[skipro33]

I get credit card offers for my deceased mother and a son who lives in New Zealand regularly. I've often contemplated accepting the card, then sell it on the street. I'd get the cash, someone would be using the card, and I bet like heck I'd NEVER get another credit card offer in that name again!

Burn the credit card companies and maybe they won't be so quick to mail offers out so blindly.

 

[Bamaman]

The 3 credit agencies sell their info to credit card companies and the banks are sending out credit card offers in bulk.

I don't understand how my wife gets so many credit card offers when she's unemployed and has little capacity to pay. And how did she get a FICO score of 817--higher than mine when she doesn't even pay the bills.

 

[Hermit]

...
I don't understand how my wife gets so many credit card offers when she's unemployed and has little capacity to pay. And how did she get a FICO score of 817--higher than mine when she doesn't even pay the bills.

Maybe they read your posts here and know you are retired.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

We pulled a joke on a classmate years ago at college. We signed him up for every offer of information/mailings/ads we could find for a week. He was getting bags of mail daily. I wonder how this has screwed up his mail to this day....

 

[poorcarver]

Years ago we signed up our dog for a credit card just for giggles. Her name was Diamond so we called her our last name with that first name. Card was issued. So for S&G's we purchased something with it, paid the bill and then the flood gates opened. To this day nearly 16 years later and two moves she still gets mail, CC offers and wonderful opportunities to buy property.

 

[old woman]

I divorced ex 31 years ago, he died 21 years ago, I moved a few times and didn't let him find me. I get mail at my house for him and online searches have him as someone I might be related to. I am so glad he is dead so I know he can't ever find me.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

We were at the State Fair about 30+ years ago, and signed up to win something. Instead of my first name I used "Marmaduke" (the cartoon dog) as a joke. To this day we still get offers mailed to "Marmaduke" and laugh everytime we get one.

 

[gozer]

How about very old database of accounts with SSN, so the system corrected the address prior to mailing out ?

I've noticed these CC offers are not very coordinated, I get one and don't even open it , then the next week I get one with the same offer plus bonus $150. Obviously they practically randomly send them out as they don't wait long enough to get back a mailed response.

The company I worked for before retirement, could easily find updated address' for most living people in the US. This service was one of the things we provided to government agencies, companies and authorized individuals.

Even without SSN, it would not be very difficult to find all but the most diligent "off the grid" people. Changing last name via marriage is not much of a challenge. Worst case was you got a list of multiple people that you would have to disambiguate manually. However, the system was improved every year, so it was increasingly doing the disambiguation before showing you the results. Other much cheaper person location services have sprung up in the last decade, so it's easy to imagine companies are doing this, when they only need "good enough" results. If they get results for 3 possible people, just send them all an offer. After all, credit pushers just need more addicts.

Most people became "lost" by accident when records are destroyed at the source before being entered into public records. This is more common than people intentionally going under.

When I looked myself up when I was still an employee, my record included an alias I was mildly surprised to find. As a teen, my hand writing was horrible. I signed up for the Columbia House record service, got my almost free records, bought the obligated few albums and then immediately cancelled my subscription. They had one letter in my last name wrong and had one number in my address wrong. 12 months later the selective service contacted this "other me" with a threat to register for the draft or the local sheriff would be visiting me. The "real me" had signed up for the draft. To this day I keep the paperwork where I registered for the draft just in case. Today this might not have happened because my record shows the alias. That assumes they bothered to check before sending out blanket threat letters. I suspect they wouldn't bother because it wasn't worth the effort. It was just an attempt to increase compliance via scary letter.

 

[Badger]

It has been over 30 years since i divorced my first wife. She remarried not long after and lives in another town. Now that she is getting Medicare I have been receiving junk mail addressed to her (with my last name not her married name) for supplemental insurance. The letters go into the trash. Hope she doesn't need it.

Cheers!

 

[Sunset]

How do you know the second offer is the same as the first one, plus $150 bonus if you didnt open the first one?

As the second one had a $150 number on the outside of the envelope, but the first didn't, I had to open both to compare to see if it was just the envelopes that were different.

Nope, the second offer was better. !!

The bank does the same, they send me offers of get $125 to open a savings account. Sometimes its $100. Last time I accepted it was $175.
I closed it after 6 months, it was pretty easy interest earnings.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I wonder if freezing credit would stop these offers?

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