Are you getting calls from 248-276-6646? Here's everything you need to know about the number you're seeing on your caller ID.
This number is registered to Midland Credit Management (MCM) in Troy, Michigan. Since we first detected the number in early 2023, we've recorded over 16,600 calls from 248-276-6646. In addition to the data we have at RoboKiller, the FTC has received 86 complaints about this number from consumers in at least nine states.
These are the details we found about the company calling from this phone number.
What is Midland Credit Management calling you about?
It's simple: they think you owe them money. Specifically, MCM believes you owe them on a debt they bought from the original creditor. This company is not a third-party debt collector calling on someone else's behalf; they are a debt buyer. They buy your account for pennies on the dollar and try to collect the full amount from you for their own profit.
Here's more information about the company placing these calls to consumers.
Contact Information
The company calling you is Midland Credit Management, Inc. (MCM). MCM is a debt buyer and a subsidiary of Encore Capital Group, Inc. They are headquartered in San Diego, California. The calls from 248-276-6646 are coming from a call center in Troy, Michigan. With 7,350 employees worldwide, MCM has 24 offices across all 50 states.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) gives Midland Credit Management an A+ rating (though the company is not accredited by the BBB), while Trustpilot reviewers give them an average rating of 2.1 stars out of 5 (with 93 percent of reviews being only one star).
This is not a new company to regulators.
A History of Enforcement
MCM has been under the microscope of federal and state regulators for well over a decade. In 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took enforcement action against MCM for making excessive calls to consumers.
In one instance, the bureau found that the company had called a consumer 20 times in fewer than two days. As a result of the consent order, MCM had to pay a $10 million civil penalty and up to $42 million in refunds to consumers, and the company had to cease collection activities on $125 million in debts.
Just five years later, in 2020, the CFPB determined that MCM had violated the terms of the consent order and fined the company an additional $15 million. Separately, 42 state attorneys general reached a settlement with MCM over the company's use of robo-signed affidavits. Employees at MCM signed 200 to 400 affidavits per day without reviewing their contents for accuracy. In total, MCM has paid over $100 million in penalties to federal and state regulators.
What does Midland Credit Management want from you?
The debts they purchase and collect
MCM's parent company, Encore Capital Group, is the largest publicly traded debt buyer in the country. They buy portfolios of defaulted consumer debt from original creditors for just pennies on the dollar (historically, around three cents per dollar) and then try to collect the full amount from consumers. In fiscal year 2024, Encore Capital Group spent a record $1.35 billion on new debt portfolios.
Encore operates two main companies for these activities. Midland Funding LLC is the entity that owns the debt portfolios, while Midland Credit Management, Inc. (MCM) is the entity that actually places the calls to collect the debts.
Here's what one RoboKiller user said about a recent experience with the company: "The guy never even greeted me on the call. When I answered, he immediately called me by my first name twice. When I asked him who he was, he immediately started saying something about how the call may be monitored or recorded, so I hung up."
The types of debt MCM collects
The majority of debts that MCM collects are defaulted credit card accounts. Many original creditors whose debts end up on MCM's doorstep include Capital One, Citibank, Chase, Discover, Synchrony Bank, Comenity Bank, and Bank of America. If you've ever carried a balance on a card from any of these issuers and didn't pay it, there's a good chance that your debt is owed to Midland Funding.
Beyond credit cards, MCM also buys debts in the following categories:
- Telecom (phone bills)
- Auto loan deficiency balances
- Consumer finance accounts
Their strategy varies depending on the type of debt. For credit card debts (which typically have clearer documentation), MCM is likely to pursue more aggressive collection strategies. For telecom and utility debts (which are typically lower balances), MCM may rely more heavily on calling and credit reporting than litigation.
What consumers say about these calls
The aggressive caller behavior and misleading caller ID
Many reviews of calls from 248-276-6646 describe the aggressive behavior of the agents who place the calls and misleading caller ID information.
One reviewer on 800notes said this: "Caller ID said Baker Coll Abr, when they sent me an email it was from M&M electronics. It was actually Midland Collections. It was a collection agency." Misleading caller ID makes it difficult for consumers to know who's calling before they answer the phone.
One reviewer on Trustpilot in April 2025 said this: "Scam organization wildly unprofessional, predatory, and rude. Basically a timeshare for junk debt. Make sure you record your calls they will lie. Yes, they are on commission." YouMail voicemail transcripts show that different named agents from this number are using the same script.
Calls to family members and wrong numbers
Several complaints describe instances where MCM called the wrong person altogether. One user on WalletHub said this: "A man from Midland Credit Management called my granddaughter and asked if she was my emergency contact. She immediately went into panic mode, thinking something had happened to me."
Another user on 800notes confirmed that MCM calls the wrong numbers: "Caller ID said MCM. It was looking for someone not at my number that was called." These reports are consistent with MCM's history of using incomplete or inaccurate contact information, which the CFPB called out in their enforcement actions against the company.
How a collection account affects your credit
The impact to your score that most people underestimate
When a debt collector like MCM puts a collection account on your credit report, the harm to your credit score can be significant.
A single collection account can reduce your credit score by dozens or even hundreds of points, depending on your individual credit history. The presence of a collection account on your report is a strong indicator of risk to lenders, even if the original debt was quite small.
Many consumers do not find out about the collection account until they apply for a mortgage, auto loan, or apartment lease and are denied or offered unfavorable terms. While the calls can be a nuisance, the real damage happens when the collection account shows up on your credit report.
Why paying them might not be the best strategy
Your initial reaction might be to just pay something to make the phone calls stop. But making a payment can sometimes make things worse. When you pay something on a collection account, you may be creating a paper trail that could be interpreted as acknowledging that the debt is valid.
In some states, acknowledging the debt in this way can restart the clock on the statute of limitations, which gives the collector a brand-new time window during which they can sue you for the debt.
Even a partial payment can update the date of last activity on your credit report. This can make an old collection account appear more recent than it really is, which can extend the amount of time that the account harms your credit score. There are better ways to deal with a debt collector than paying them directly. And they start with understanding your rights.
Understanding your rights
The statute of limitations is ticking in your favor
Every debt has a statute of limitations, which is a time window when a collector can legally sue you for the debt. Once that time window expires, the debt becomes time-barred. The CFPB found that MCM was collecting on time-barred debts while falsely claiming that the debts were subject to the law. This conduct contributed to the 2015 consent order.
Can debt collectors sue or garnish wages? While it's unlikely (and rare), the answer is not impossible. MCM, like most debt collectors, operates on a strict cost-benefit analysis. If the debt is too small, or the debt is too old, or the documentation is too weak, it doesn't make economic sense for them to sue. As debts get older and older, they become less and less of a legal threat.
Your power: disputing the debt through your credit report
One of the most powerful tools that consumers have is the right to dispute information on their credit report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), consumers have the right to dispute any information on their credit report that they believe is inaccurate, unverified, or incomplete.
When a consumer disputes information on their credit report, the credit reporting bureau must conduct an investigation, and the information furnisher (in this case, the debt collector) must verify the information with documentation.
The problem for debt buyers like MCM is that many of the debts they buy do not have complete documentation. They may not have the original account agreement, a complete payment history, or a complete chain of title. And when they cannot verify a disputed account during an investigation, the credit bureau must delete it.
In most cases, once a collection account is successfully disputed and deleted from a consumer's credit report, the collector does not have the ability or economic incentive to re-report the account. In most cases, removal through the dispute process is permanent, which makes credit report disputes one of the most effective strategies that consumers can use to deal with debt buyers.
What to do next
If you're getting calls from 248-276-6646, you're dealing with one of the largest and most penalized debt collection companies in the country. MCM's entire business model is built around getting consumers to pay them something without ever questioning the validity of the debt or the accuracy of their credit report.
You don't have to answer these calls. Instead, pull a copy of your credit report and see if there are any accounts on your report from Midland Credit Management or Midland Funding. If there are accounts on your report that are inaccurate, unverified, or incomplete, you have the right to dispute them.
At FightCollections.com, we specialize in disputing incorrect items on consumers' credit reports and holding debt collectors accountable for the illegal practices outlined in this article. If you have a Midland Credit Management account on your credit report, contact us to learn how we can help.
