Random Credit Card appearance

[sondra_finchley]

I was just dealing with credit card stuff online with B of A (man that is one horrible HORRIBLE website to use) and I see that somewhere along the line I was issued a (insert name of my alma mater) Foundation Master Card. I never signed up for this, never even knew about it (maybe I should open my bank mail) yet this has shown up in the past 28 days since I last checked in online to deal with this stuff. $500 limit, but I dont have a pastic card or anything with it. Has this happened to anyone? I dont intend to use it as I only like to have one card to make my life easy and I dont believe in getting into too much debt. What should I do- call up B of A and have it cancelled? Does it affect me to just let it sit there?

[dostoy]

I get sent lots of cards but it shouldn't be official unless you call them and tell them to activate it right?

[EmberMae]

Once bank of america called me and informed me that they were signing me up for a credit card. I was driving my car and a bit distracted, so I thought they were just telling me about it and were going to send me an application. I did not say I wanted the card, nor was I asked. I just wanted to get off the phone. Low and behold, I was signed up for a credit card. Very irritating.

[sondra_finchley]

Did you call up B of A and cancel the card then Ember?

[Spinney]

The same thing happened to me with some American card company. I was still in university, unemployed and living off student loans...so I sure as hell didn't need another mastercard. I got some call from a gal whose spanish accent was so bad I didn't understand what she was saying. I thought she was calling from a Canadian bank I already had a card with, and then 3 weeks later I've got this card with a huge limit, a massive interest rate and a pretty hefty annual fee.

I never activated it but then they started sending me checks every 4 or 5 weeks. The card was inactive, but someone else could have taken those things and charged stuff to my name. It took me a couple years to get them to stop sending the friggin things.

I wish I could remember what the name of the company was...

[EmberMae]

Did you call up B of A and cancel the card then Ember?
Yeah I did, it's just annoying.

[analogman]

Yeah I did, it's just annoying.

It can be much more than just annoying. If might affect your credit score.

A clerk at a BoA branch did the same thing to me (offered me a card, I declined, opened an account for me anyway). I had to call them to cancel the card AND put in a fraud alert. That was the only way they would take it off my credit report. Otherwise they were going to mark down that I had opened an account and closed it immediately which would then count against me in terms of total number of accounts and ding my credit.

[sondra_finchley]

Ah ok, thats what I was wondering- if this was going to affect my score at all. Im wondering if I should write a letter to the (insert my alma mater here) Foundation regarding this- if BoA sold them something or what because I sure as hell dont appreciate this at all.

Analogman- who did you put the fraud alert in to- one of the three reporting services? I had to do that earlier this year for something else.

Seriously, the credit report is like the new Permanent Record ( remember when you were scared of those in elementary school?) only all the players and cards seem really stacked against you. Man thats low.

[analogman]

Ah ok, thats what I was wondering- if this was going to affect my score at all. Im wondering if I should write a letter to the (insert my alma mater here) Foundation regarding this- if BoA sold them something or what because I sure as hell dont appreciate this at all.

Analogman- who did you put the fraud alert in to- one of the three reporting services? I had to do that earlier this year for something else.

Seriously, the credit report is like the new Permanent Record ( remember when you were scared of those in elementary school?) only all the players and cards seem really stacked against you. Man thats low.

The bank credit card people said in order to not have it show up on my credit report, I need to say it was fraud to the fraud department. They then investigated and took the entry off my credit report. If it had not been removed, I would have disputed it with the credit reporting agencies directly.

[EmberMae]

It can be much more than just annoying. If might affect your credit score.

A clerk at a BoA branch did the same thing to me (offered me a card, I declined, opened an account for me anyway). I had to call them to cancel the card AND put in a fraud alert. That was the only way they would take it off my credit report. Otherwise they were going to mark down that I had opened an account and closed it immediately which would then count against me in terms of total number of accounts and ding my credit.
That's interesting. I kind of blame myself for not paying closer attention, but I was driving and the guy had a thick accent. I don't know if it counts as fraud, but it's certainly an underhanded tactic. I'm upset that it could have affected my credit score. I pride myself on my good record with credit. So for total number of accounts, it counts accounts that are closed? A few years back I closed some store credit cards because I didn't want them counting against me.

[jrwilheim]

I sort of had a similar experience with Orchard Bank. I applied for a card with them, not thinking I would get it, and as far as I knew hadn't until one morning I got a call from someone offering me credit insurance on the card. Naturally I called them up and, sure enough, I'd been offered a card with a $750 limit.

I decided to take the card because I need more of a credit line anyway, the rate was lower than either of my existing cards, and so forth. They apologized--apparently they had sent me a card and it had gone missing in the mail. I had them re-send a new card with a different number for security purposes.

[analogman]

That's interesting. I kind of blame myself for not paying closer attention, but I was driving and the guy had a thick accent. I don't know if it counts as fraud, but it's certainly an underhanded tactic. I'm upset that it could have affected my credit score. I pride myself on my good record with credit. So for total number of accounts, it counts accounts that are closed? A few years back I closed some store credit cards because I didn't want them counting against me.

It was fraud as far as I was concerned; I said no but a card showed up anyway. They also said the branch manager was going to talk to the teller, so I would guess they agreed it's wrong.

Even closed accounts with no negative history count. I opened a few cards in college to get the free t-shirts etc. I closed them after learning that having too many cards is bad. I closed them but my score didn't go up. According to the Equifax ScorePower report, having too many accounts, even closed, is hurting my score.