On a recent credit report I found that I have too many open credit
card accounts that are old and I apparently have not closed. I am
looking for a safe way to close them when I no longer have the credit
cards.

This may interest you:

"Many consumers who review their credit reports find old credit card
accounts they haven't used for years still listed as open accounts.
You may think it's a good idea to close those accounts and have them
listed on your credit report as closed. That's not necessarily the
case. Fair Isaac Co. says that closing old accounts can't help your
FICO credit score, and can only hurt it. Why?

Credit scores are based on information about how you've handled
different types of credit over time. When you close out a lot of
accounts, you may limit some of the information that could be helpful
in predicting how you'll pay in the future. You may also shorten the
average length of your credit history. When it comes to credit scores,
a longer credit history is better.

Unless you have a specific reason for closing accounts -- you're
getting divorced for example, and want to close your joint accounts -
you may want to leave your old accounts as they are."

http://www.consolidatedcredit.org/debt-learning-center/credit-score2.asp

pinkfreud makes some good points (as usual!) so I'll just add a
comment on the other side.

If you're looking to borrow money, lenders usually see every "open"
line of credit as a potential debt.  The more potential debt you have,
the less the lender will be willing to lend.  So closing old accounts
can (at least in some cases) increase the amount you can borrow.

Bighug2U --

The credit report itself will indicate with whom the account is open
AND an account number.  Sometimes those account numbers are scrambled
for security reasons, though most often they aren't.

Probably the best way to close the accounts is to contact the account
holder and make the request in writing.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Perhaps the a solution would be too contant the credit card companies
whom you have the open accounts and request that the maximum credit
limit be reduced. This would allow favorable credit history to still
be viewed and increase the amount of loans that a lender would be
willing to offer.

-AaronSSU