My 13-year-old son just received a letter from WAMU offering a credit card with a $30,000 credit limit?

Question

Is this normal or even legal?

Answer 1

This is one of the biggest problems when it comes to identity theft. More and more of these offers are coming in for children. The issue is not that your son could open an account, but that someone can steal his identity.

You would never know about it until he applied for a student loan or went to purchase a car.

The best way to solve this problem is through LifeLock. They not only lock your credit up but they can also lock your childrens credit. Preventing further credit card offers and identity theft.

Answer 2

It is legal, and somewhat normal nowadays. Wamu simply "found" his name and address and sent a "pre-approved" letter; it doesn't mean anything because Wamu will still run his credit report and make a decision based on that. However, it is also possible (though less likely) that your son's identity was stolen and used to open other accounts. I'd suggest you obtain a free credit report for him just in case.
For government backed credit report site, use
http://www.annualcreditreport.com

For general credit and ID theft info, check out
http://triceiver.com/IDTheft.aspx

Answer 3

It's legal, and also stupid on WAMU's part, since, if they give him the credit card and he uses it, they are in no position to collect unless you sign and guarantee the card to WAMU.

WAMU and others tend to make errors now and then. A few years back, my dog got a pre approval letter from Discover.

Answer 4

mis marketing = get his name on a DNC list.
opt out list too.

This could be a result of someone using the wrong identity or did he apply for something upping his age and other information that resulted in his name getting on a database?

I say mismarketing..

1 making out an online form for contests or freebies
2. teen sites sell info too
3.buying magazines on line or anything like that
4surfing and joining sites


It really is differcult to determine from here- but I believe two things happen
he applied for something
his information was sold and/or altered

get his name on the do not call list DNC
and update often.

Answer 5

It's just as valid as anyone else getting them...
It's a pre-"approved" invite, not a pre "qualified" invite for a card. He would still have to do the paperwork to go thru the credit check. Of course they won't give it to him. Just throw it away.

Answer 6

I would worry that someone has applied for credit somewhere else with your sons SSN. They are sending you spam/junk mail, which is the result of applying with someone who sells contact information for people looking for credit cards.

I would run a credit report on your son, which will show if any one applied for credit with his ID.