Odd CC Offer in My E-mail from USAA

[Anonymous]

My husband and I have a joint account with USAA although, I would think that because it is his military service that gives us FULL membership with USAA, my husband should be considered the "primary" account holder, right?  ALL this time that we've been with USAA, the only e-mails that have ever come to us from them have been sent to my husband's e-mail account.   Today, out of the blue, I got an e-mail from "supposedly" USAA offering "me" their World Mastercard.  There was no similar e-mail sent to my husband. The e-mail looked legit from start to finish but, how can it be?  I have no income and am not employed -- USAA knows this -- why would they send "me" an e-mail offer of credit???   I have an idea that this e-mail did not really come from USAA but, I am not sure how to determine who really did send it.  

Anyone else ever get CC offers by e-mail from USAA??? 

[bichonmom]

One way to tell if it's legit is to hover your mouse over the links in the email, but DON'T click. Just hover and look at the url that pops up. That will show you if it's a legit usaa domain or some fraudulent one. I never click links in financial emails anymore unless I'm 100% sure they're legit. You can always log in (not from email) or call USAA and see if they did offer it to you.

It could be that they just sent to some members and didn't use criteria like income, etc. to determine eligibility. It's like any "pre-approval" in that it really isn't. I've never gotten an email offer from USAA, but I have received a couple of fraudulent emails from them (well, not really from them, since they were fraudulent). They weren't offers, though.

[score_building]

Have you checked the "My Offers" at USAA online recently?

[haulingthescoreup]

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@score_building wrote:

Have you checked the "My Offers" at USAA online recently?

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+1

USAA, of all lenders, is more likely to understand that a stay-at-home spouse is economically critical to the financial security of the family. If you're suspicious/ cautious, give them a call.

If you don't have credit in your own name, you should. In strong marriages, both partners have equal value in important areas like finances.

They're wonderful people to be with. I can't recommend them highly enough.

[Anonymous]

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bichonmom wrote:

I've never gotten an email offer from USAA, but I have received a couple of fraudulent emails from them (well, not really from them, since they were fraudulent). They weren't offers, though.

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My husband has always been the one to receive any e-mails from USAA and, they have all been legitimate notifications, like reminders that its time to pay the USAA Amex bill, or the insurance bills, etc. 

I did as you said and hovered over the links and they all have a USAA address but it says "e-USAA" not just USAA.  I'm going to call tomorrow and see what more I can find out directly from the bank.

[Anonymous]

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score_building wrote:

Have you checked the "My Offers" at USAA online recently?

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We check them everyday!   The only thing offered there are advertisements. 

[Anonymous]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

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@score_building wrote:

Have you checked the "My Offers" at USAA online recently?

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+1

USAA, of all lenders, is more likely to understand that a stay-at-home spouse is economically critical to the financial security of the family. If you're suspicious/ cautious, give them a call.

If you don't have credit in your own name, you should. In strong marriages, both partners have equal value in important areas like finances.

They're wonderful people to be with. I can't recommend them highly enough.

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I am going to give USAA a call, definitely! 

I have credit cards with my name on them but, only because of the joint accounts with my husband.  We've been together for nearly 50 years and, I believe our marriage is about as strong as they get!!! Anymore, I don't believe it is legal for an unemployed spouse, like myself, to apply for credit -- not since the laws went into effect in October of last year.  The law I'm talking about is discussed here. 

We hope that USAA will one day find favor upon us enough to give us an unsecured card but, so far, we are making do with the secured Amex we got from them last year. 

I am really concerned about this weird offer that came in my e-mail though -- it just doesn't smell right at all.

[bettercreditguy1]

Great, check them out! I may suggest,  It is an excellent idea for each spouse to have at least one account soley in his/her name. After a divorce or death, often times the credit limit on joint accounts gets reset to a beginning level. This could create a probem.

[crunching_numbers]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

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@score_building wrote:

Have you checked the "My Offers" at USAA online recently?

---

+1

USAA, of all lenders, is more likely to understand that a stay-at-home spouse is economically critical to the financial security of the family. If you're suspicious/ cautious, give them a call.

If you don't have credit in your own name, you should. In strong marriages, both partners have equal value in important areas like finances.

They're wonderful people to be with. I can't recommend them highly enough.

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I am going to give USAA a call, definitely! 

I have credit cards with my name on them but, only because of the joint accounts with my husband.  We've been together for nearly 50 years and, I believe our marriage is about as strong as they get!!! Anymore, I don't believe it is legal for an unemployed spouse, like myself, to apply for credit -- not since the laws went into effect in October of last year.  The law I'm talking about is discussed here. 

We hope that USAA will one day find favor upon us enough to give us an unsecured card but, so far, we are making do with the secured Amex we got from them last year. 

I am really concerned about this weird offer that came in my e-mail though -- it just doesn't smell right at all.

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Trust those gut instincts. If it doesn't smell right, it most likely isn't. I agree with your decision to call. If it is a legit offer, then it will still be an offer on the phone.

As far as being an unemployed spouse, make sure any investment income is in your name. As a group, women need to lobby to get that law amended.  Many of us (not myself, but I still could have been in that group) have chose to stay at home either for child rearing or because a second income was not needed.  I also know a couple with the man at home with the kids, and the woman in the workforce. They need to fix this, IMHO.

[Anonymous]

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@bettercreditguy1 wrote:

I may suggest,  It is an excellent idea for each spouse to have at least one account soley in his/her name. After a divorce or death, often times the credit limit on joint accounts gets reset to a beginning level. This could create a probem.

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For folks who have the money to fund separate accounts, that's wonderful. I worked for over 30 years until my health issues made it impossible for me to continue working. My 401-K blew up in the stock market crash of 2008, then in 2009, my husband's 401-K crashed -- we both lost everything.  Thank God, my husband is a very young and healthy 65 years old who has NO intentions of ever retiring. And, the credit limit on our joint accounts are very much at what might be considered a "beginning level" today.  We are RE-builders in every sense of the word!  But, we're not doing badly.  We consider ourselves greatly blessed. 

But, this e-mail from supposedly USAA, being sent to "me," the unemployed secondary -- that's gotta be spam.