FTC Consumer Alert

Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection Division of Consumer & Business Education

Unsolicited Mail, Telemarketing and Email: 

Where to Go to “Just Say No”

 Tired of having your mailbox crammed with unsolicited mail, including pre-approved credit card 

applications? Fed up with getting telemarketing calls just as you’re sitting down to dinner? Fuming 

that your email inbox is chock-full of unsolicited advertising? The good news is that you can cut down 

on the number of unsolicited mailings, calls, and emails you receive by learning where to go to “just 

say no.”

Credit Bureaus 

The credit bureaus offer a toll-free number that enables you to “opt-out” of having pre-approved 

credit offers sent to you for five years. Call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (567-8688) or visit 

www.optoutprescreen.com for more information. When you call, you’ll be asked for personal 

information, including your home telephone number, your name, and your Social Security number. 

The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out of 

receiving pre-screened offers of credit.

In addition, you can notify the three major credit bureaus that you do not want personal 

information about you shared for promotional purposes — an important step toward eliminating 

unsolicited mail. Write your own letter or use the sample letter on the last page of this Alert to limit 

the amount of information the credit bureaus will share about you. Send your letter to each of the 

three major credit bureaus:

Experian

901 West Bond

Lincoln, NE 68521 

Attn: Consumer Services Department

TransUnion

Name Removal Option 

P.O. Box 505 

Woodlyn, PA 19094

Equifax, Inc.

Options

P.O. Box 740123

Atlanta, GA 30374-0123

Direct Marketers

Telemarketing

The federal government has created the National Do Not Call Registry — a free, easy way to 

reduce the telemarketing calls you get at home. To register your phone number or to get information 

about the registry, visit www.donotcall.gov, or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone number you 

want to register. You will get fewer telemarketing calls within 31 days of registering your number. 

Telephone numbers on the registry will only be removed when they are disconnected and reassigned, 

or when you choose to remove a number from the registry.

Mail

The Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Mail Preference Service lets you opt out of receiving 

unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies for five years. When you register with 

this service (for a $1 fee), your name will be put on a “delete” file and made available to direct-mail 

marketers. However, your registration will not stop mailings from organizations that do not use the 

DMA’s Mail Preference Service. To register with DMA’s Mail Preference Service, go to 

www.dmachoice.org.
Email

The DMA also has an Email Preference Service to help you reduce unsolicited commercial emails. 

To opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial email from DMA members, visit 

www.dmachoice.org. Your online request will be effective for five years.

Department of Motor Vehicles

The Drivers Privacy Protection Act allows states to distribute personal information only to law 

enforcement officials, courts, government agencies, private investigators, insurance underwriters, and 

similar businesses — but not for direct marketing and other uses.

If You Have a Complaint

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices 

in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. 

To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 

1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, 

identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database 

available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Sample Opt-Out Letter (Send to addresses on first page of this Alert.)

Date

To whom it may concern:

I request to have my name removed from your marketing lists. 

Here is the information you have asked me to include in my request:

FIRST, MIDDLE & LAST NAME

(List all name variations, including Jr., Sr., etc.)

______________________________

CURRENT MAILING ADDRESS

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

PREVIOUS MAILING ADDRESS 

(Fill in your previous mailing address if you have moved in the last 6 months.)

______________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

______________________________

DATE OF BIRTH

______________________________

Thank you for your prompt handling of my request.

______________________________

Signature

July 2008