Sometimes, when spam gets through my filter, I like to read it anyway, just to see what it’s pushing on the gullible. Credit card offers are fun, because I like to see how ridiculous the interest rates are. (And if they’re not clearly published, that means it’s some kinda scam anyway.)

One I got today intrigued me–You Don’t Need Perfect Credit To Get A Perfect Credit Card! and it had an interest rate of 9.9%*. Oh, asterisk, sure. Introductory? I click on the link, helpfully providing a verified e-mail address to spammers, damnit, and go to the site…but no, it’s really a 9.9% interest rate. So what gives? I scanned down their details and found it:

Account Set-up Fee: $29.00 (one-time fee)
Program Fee: $95.00 (one-time fee)
Annual Fee: $48.00
Participation Fee: $72.00 Annually

Yeah, nice. Let’s not even count the $124 for the privilege of getting their card…yearly fees are $120, which means if you have $1000 on the card, that’s roughly like adding another 12% APR to the base rate. It’s not so bad for effective APR if you have more on the card, but 1) you shouldn’t have a lot on a credit card anyway, and 2) this is one of those “for people we assume are thieves” credit cards, so I’m sure they don’t give you a high credit limit. In fact, they even say that if you get the “minimum credit limit” of $250, all these charges will be put on your card up front, and your starting credit limit will be $72.

For bonus fun, they don’t say what will happen to the interest rate:

Changes to Rate, Fees and Terms: We may change the terms of your account, including the APR’s at any time in accordance with the Credit Card Contract that will be sent with your Card.