Ever get a credit card application in the mail? Of course you have, unless you're some weird superfreak. And I am assuming you don't apply for every card you receive an application for. So what do you do to discard those other applications? If you're like me you rip it up a bunch and throw it out. But how effective is that? If this story is any guide, this is not effective.

You should probably buy a shredder today.

I get a heck of a lot of credit card applications in the mail. A bunch for Visa, quite a few from Mastercard and tons of them from American Express.

I almost always tear them in half and throw them away. Sometimes, if I am feeling particularly paranoid, I'll tear them into little bitty pieces. Is that good enough? Could a determined and dexterous criminal gather all the bits, tape them together and apply for a card in my name? Would a credit card company balk when confronted with an obviously resurrected application?

A test was in order, and when the latest application arrived from Chase Mastercard, I was equal to the task.

To summarize the rest, not only did the guy tape together the application he tore up, he put down a different address and his cell phone number. Sure enough, the card arrived at the other address and he was able to activate it using his cell phone.

By the way, to stop receiving such credit card applications in the first place: 1-888-5-OPTOUT is an automated service run jointly by the four main credit bureaus. With one phone call you can opt out of pre-screened mailings from all four bureaus. You'll usually see this number in the fine print of any credit card application you receive, as it is required by law.