Calls to your Better Business Bureau about scam junk mail are on a dramatic increase. Most of the calls are about mail containing fraudulent checks for thousands of dollars and instructions to deposit the checks in personal accounts and wire most of the cash. It's a scam playing out in the Treasure Valley daily. Don't fall for it. No matter how real the check looks, no one is giving away money.

While we can't stop the scam artists from sending thousands of fake checks into Southwest Idaho, we can all put a dent in the volume of the rest of the junk mail arriving in our boxes.

Let's look at how we stop daily postcards, flyers, specially marked envelopes and pre-approved credit card offers.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw out more than 4 million tons of junk mail every year, and what is one man's garbage is an ID thief's gold mine. A Javelin Strategy and Research survey on identity theft estimates that 8.1 million Americans became victims in 2007, with nearly half a million cases the result of stolen mail.

Your first step should be to shred all pre-approved credit offers. The next steps lead you to reducing the volume of mail arriving at your home:

PRE-APPROVED CREDIT CARD OFFERS

To "opt-out" of receiving pre-approved credit card offers for at least five years, and perhaps permanently, call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (567-8688) or visit: www.optoutprescreen.com. This service is offered by the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You'll be asked for personal information, including your name, address, birth date and Social Security number. This information is used only to process requests and will remain confidential. This procedure will need to be followed for each adult family member in the house.

DIRECT MAIL OFFERS

The Direct Marketing Association is a trade group with 5,200 member companies that use telephone, mail and the Internet to pitch their products directly to consumers. To stop receiving mailings from DMA members, go to: www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing. DMA regularly updates its list, but companies it notifies to remove names from their mailing lists may not be as prompt, and it may take as much as six months before solicitations from all DMA members stop.

"RESIDENT" AND "OCCUPANT" MAILINGS

Consumers can remove their addresses from "resident" and "occupant" mailings that offer various goods and services by contacting Valassis by phone (888) 241-6760, or through an online form at: www.advo.com/consumersupport.html. Consumers can also send a written request to ADVO Inc. Customer Assistance, P.O. Box 249, Windsor, CT 06095.

COUPON PACKS

To stop receiving coupon packs, visit: www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm, and fill out an online request form.

Dale Dixon is president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau, a not-for-profit organization serving Southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon. Reach him at 342-4649 or ddixon@boise.bbb.org.