Nicholas Amoss is twelve. He has no job. And he still lives at home - and most likely doesn’t even pay room and board. Nevertheless, Nicholas was sent a credit card application. The credit card company considers Nicholas a good risk.

This is an example of how data bases are marketed and sold. Apparently, Nicholas has a magazine subscription, which he must have paid within the terms for subscribing. This landed him on data bases and mailing lists. The magazine company must have had some financial gain for sharing Nicholas’ purchasing information.

Even at age twelve, with really no major purchasing history, Nicholas’ information is marketed. If someone accessed this credit card offer, Nicholas could be a victim of identity theft and have massive debts - all without his knowledge. It seems that your dog or cat can receive a credit card application:

“Cookeville Police Detective Sgt. Carl Sells said it is common for kids to receive credit card applications, and he’s even seen cases of a pet receiving a credit card application, and it apparently isn’t illegal to do so.”

link: Credit card offer for 12-year-old? It’s not uncommon, police say

Perhaps your dog and cat have a better credit rating than you.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]credit card, application, children, data base, mailing lists, security, identity theft, dogs, cats[/tags]