MDG's "Credit Monitoring Program" - I bet you're a member and you don't even know it.

I decided to check my Equifax score the other day. I've been busy adulting, and making sure that my debts are all cleared up so my score increases. Now, I know that making inquiries into credit can ding the number pretty bad, so when I check my Equifax account, I want to make sure there's nothing I don't recognize on there.

But on Friday May 8, 2020 that's exactly what happened. Right in my Soft Checks area sat MDG.

I thought this was rather odd, and I'm not going to lie, I immediately panicked a bit since I most definitely did NOT try and order anything from them. I hadn't even looked at their site recently. Admittedly, I have looked over their site a few times in my life, but I've never gone through with any order. So this "Soft Check on May 7, 2020 gave me a reason to be concerned.

I went to Facebook and wrote MDG a note - their customer service number was not open, and I wanted to make sure that whomever was trying to be me was not going to be successful with their purchase. I was most definitely NOT going to pay for anything they decided to process AFTER I left them a note in writing that I did not order anything.

I received a response today, Monday May 11, 2020 at 4:03pm EST informing me to give them a call. At this point I had already happened upon the spam email found in my Junk folder, letting me know I was Pre-Approved.

I noticed that I was a "preferred customer," which, again, was odd, as I have NEVER made a purchase from MDG in my entire life.

Further down the email, things became evident that I had somehow been enrolled in this "Credit Monitoring Program."

I consider myself fairly savvy when it comes to these auto enrolment features you have no idea you enrolled in, but if you check the fine print, it's clearly there....like in The Santa Clause, where Tim Allen finds himself part of multiple clauses attached to that business card. I decided to figure out what exactly this "Credit Monitoring Program" was, and how I could be removed permanently from it. So I went to the source - www.secure.mdg.ca.

Now, I couldn't remember signing up, however, MDG has been around for a very long time, and it's completely possible I did once upon a time. But I thought this "Credit Monitoring Program" must have been informed to me prior to signing up, so I went through the entire site in search of this mysterious program.

I first checked the entire website, thinking it may pull up the documents that the "Credit Monitoring Program" exists on. As you can see, the results did not display the information I hoped for. So I tried an alternative route. Being that I was left to assume you were automatically enrolled upon signing up, I went to the sign up page to see the terms and conditions.

Some things jumped out right away, like the Soft Credit Inquiry - and the "No Long Term Commitments."

I also highlighted the sections that had links for me to read. I opened up the Terms of Use, consent to Use of Telephone Numbers and Disclosures first.

As you can see, "Credit Monitoring Program" displayed 0 results.

The next link I checked was the Privacy Policy. I was almost positive this would be the document I'd find it. But again, 0 results were displayed.

I loaded the ESign and Consent link and was sadly faced with another 0 for results.

Although I knew it wouldn't be there, I still clicked on the final link, SMS Terms and Conditions, Consent to use of Telephone numbers and Disclosures. I was correct. Another 0 results displayed.

I had now successfully exhausted every spot that I could think of, BEFORE signing up. I did not consent to having MDG check my credit whenever the hell they felt like it. I did not agree to any "Credit Monitoring Program", and I have no idea, IN WRITING, how to cancel it.

As a last ditch effort, I did a Google Search for this program, and wouldn't you know, I found something. https://secure.mdg.ca/creditmonitoring.aspx?

Now, sit back and get ready for the best part.

It does sound like a great deal! Someone to monitor your credit for free? Almost no one does something nice for someone else without getting some sort of kickback anymore. It's wonderful to see that MDG has taken on helping the masses.

Reading further, it sounds like all you have to do is monitor your credit score. Because your credit score will explain exactly what's happened with your credit.

I'm not certain how MDG having my credit score number automatically equates to me being "better equipped to protect" my score. I needed to read the FAQs to find all the answers.

So far, the only "financial literacy" I gained was to sniff out the company who's pretending to do something nice for people, just so they can gain long-term access to their credit scores at any time they wish, so their marketing department makes more informed choices as to whom MDG should be doing business with...AKA...which customers will pay and which MDG wants to stay away. And all that I learned from Equifax...not MDG.

Here's where they get a bit truthful....when are these checks being done? For Pre-Qualified credit offers (like the one I found in my SPAM folder), background checks and increase credit lines all "without you needing to request" it. Well that's just great.

Again, WITHOUT going on this crazy scavenger hunt, I would NEVER have known where this was. It was not placed anywhere on the site. I did a search don't forget. This is not what I would call "easy access". Also, it's only a score. Just the number. It doesn't tell you what's causing that number to change. It's only reporting the number that they pulled from Equifax. It's an illusion that they're doing something nice by "monitoring" your credit. There goes the "Free" part out the window. This is completely for the benefit of the company, wrapped in pretty wool for your eyes.

It's updated MONTHLY, to see if you're still on the good list for the spam emails.

Sure, you can "Opt-out" anytime you'd like, except at enrolment time, where you don't even know you're being automatically signed up. I mean, they don't even bother to mention it, so why would you ever think of opting-out of such a wonderful service?

This one I find the most humorous. MDG's goal is to be "transparent and educate" their customers. HILARIOUS. I can't help but wonder who else is benefiting from their "education." One question I would have loved to see is "Who else gets to see my credit score? Are you working with other companies who can sign up to see all the credit scores of everyone enrolled in your "Credit Monitoring Program"?" Can't help but think that would bring in a pretty penny (again, making it not so "FREE", and "translucent" as they mention.) I could imagine a number of sales companies would love to be part of a monthly update as to which customers they should be reaching out to who have the best credit scores. And when it all comes crashing down, none of these companies on this hypothetical list, would be able to be thrown under the bus for it, as it falls back on MDG and their program.

So, armed with my new knowledge, I went on another search of MDGs website. Surely it must be there in plain view for their customers to see this incredible program. I noticed a "Join the Club" button, and thought, it must be there.

Well, as many of you have probably guessed, 0 results displayed again. There was another link on that page, so I thought, fine, I'll try that one.

Again, nothing. Zero results displayed.

So, where exactly did I sign up for this program? Where did I agree for this program? And how many of YOU were enrolled in this program without your knowledge? It leads me back to the "translucent" comment. Nothing about this Program makes me feel "safe, informed or protected." I wonder how much my credit score is worth.