866-518-0213 has been identified as Unknown/Spam. The reason they’re calling is that a third-party fraud detection service hired by credit unions has flagged some activity on an account associated with your phone number.
These calls are coming from a robocall system that was once managed by The Members Group (TMG), a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) based in Des Moines, Iowa that contacts cardholders with automated calls about potentially fraudulent activity.
\Whether it’s a legitimate fraud alert or a wrong number, the experience is the same. You get an automated demand for sensitive financial data without even knowing who’s calling you.
Information on 866-518-0213
Company Name: The Members Group (TMG), now Velera
Type of Company: Third-party credit union service organization (CUSO) that specializes in card fraud detection
Industry: Credit union card processing and fraud monitoring
Parent Company: Velera (formerly PSCU/Co-op Solutions), which has its headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida
Company Size: Velera serves more than 4,000 financial institutions and processes over 16 billion transactions per year
BBB Rating: A+ (not accredited)
Geographic Presence: Nationwide, providing services to credit unions in all 50 states
Notable Clients: San Diego County Credit Union, Redstone Federal Credit Union, First Tech Federal Credit Union, Coastal Federal Credit Union, Premier America Credit Union
You’re Not Alone in Getting Calls from This Number
RoboKiller reports over 21,990 calls from this number, with 606 unique reports from that platform alone.
Consumer complaints can be found on every major reporting site, including 800notes, ShouldIAnswer, WhoCallsMe, and YouMail. The number has been flagged as unsafe 44 times on CallDetective.net. No enforcement actions, lawsuits, or regulatory penalties associated with this company could be found in relation to unwanted calls or debt collection practices linked to this number.
However, consumers report getting five to seven calls per day, being called about accounts they do not own, and being pressured to give their credit card number, CVV, and Social Security number to an automated system they cannot identify.
Why Is Unknown/Spam Calling You?
Is This Actually Your Credit Union Calling You?
The first question you need to ask yourself is whether you actually have any kind of relationship with the credit union the call references. Many consumers report getting calls about credit unions they’ve never done business with.
One consumer who posted on 800notes said they were asked for credit card information tied to a credit union they did not bank with. Wrong-number calls are among the most common issues associated with this number. If you do not have an account with the credit union they mention, you’re under no obligation to return the call or engage.
Are They Identifying Themselves Before They Ask for Information?
The second question you need to ask is whether the caller identified themselves before asking for your data.
One consumer who posted on ShouldIAnswer said they got a voicemail asking for the last six digits of their credit card, their CVC number, and the last four digits of their Social Security number before they mentioned the name of any specific institution. That consumer did return the call and found out the service did know the name of their credit union and the exact dollar amount of a recent purchase.
But the initial point of contact demanded data first. A legitimate caller should identify themselves to your satisfaction before asking you to share a single digit.
What Are They Asking You For?
Do You Understand How Much Information They Want?
The amount of information this automated system is asking for should raise red flags for any consumer. Reports across platforms detail requests for full 16-digit credit card numbers, CVV and CVC security codes, the last four to six digits of Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and full account numbers.
One 800notes consumer described the full extent of what the system asked for. They were asked to confirm their credit card number, the last six digits of their Social Security number, and their date of birth. That consumer said they would only confirm the phone number they were called on. That’s the right response.
Is the Urgency They’re Creating Actually Real?
Automated calling systems and collection agencies share one very common trait. They create a false sense of urgency to get around your better judgment. The implication of a fraud alert is that you need to act now or you’ll face financial consequences. In reality, there’s rarely any legitimate reason you need to provide sensitive data to an inbound caller on the spot.
If there’s truly fraudulent activity on your account, your credit union already has the capability to lock down your card without your help.
What Should You Do Instead of Answering?
Is It OK to Block This Number?
Blocking a call from a number you don’t want to hear from is a right, not rude. You’re under no legal or moral obligation to accept calls from any number you don’t recognize, and federal law protects your right to control who can contact you and how.
One 800notes consumer told the live representative that if they got one more call, they would contact their local police department and file a harassment report against the caller. You don’t need to go that far, but the instinct is correct. You have every right to demand the calls stop, and blocking the number is the easiest way to enforce that demand.
Have You Called Your Credit Union Directly?
The single best piece of advice to be found across any of the consumer platforms came from an 800notes consumer who bypassed the unknown number altogether.
Instead of calling 866-518-0213 back, that consumer called their bank directly and asked to be connected to the security department. Their bank connected them to Card Services through verified channels.
Doing so confirmed the fraud alert was real and caught over $1,000 in fraudulent charges originating in another country. That consumer knew one thing you need to know, too: the absolutely safest way to handle any fraud alert is through the phone number on the back of your card, not the number that called you.
What If This Number Is Connected to Something on Your Credit Report?
Is Deletion a Better Goal Than Payment?
If calls from this number are associated with a disputed account or balance on your credit report that you do not recognize, the goal should not be payment. Your goal should be complete deletion of the account from your credit report. Payment or settlement leaves a negative mark that can follow your credit history for years. Deletion removes it altogether.
Credit report disputes filed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act require the credit reporting entity to verify the account with documented proof. If they cannot, the item must be deleted.
Do Collectors Actually Obey the Rules When You Dispute?
The effectiveness of a credit report dispute depends on one simple reality documented across the debt collection industry. Collectors and third-party servicers routinely fail to meet their verification obligations within the allotted timeframe. When they cannot produce the documentation the law requires, the credit bureau must delete the item from your report.
This is not any kind of guarantee about your outcome. But the burden of proof is on the entity reporting the account to you, not the other way around. State and federal exemptions also protect most consumers from garnishment and most aggressive collection tactics more broadly than people realize.
How Do You Know If There’s Something Bigger Going On?
Could This Be a Sign of Identity Theft?
One ShouldIAnswer consumer raised a point worth considering. That consumer got a call from someone asking to verify the last four digits of a credit card the consumer had never owned. The consumer wondered if the caller was either trying to collect personal data in the guise of fraud protection or attempting to build a profile of information that could be used later.
If you’re getting fraud alert calls about accounts or cards you never opened, this could be a sign someone has opened an account in your name.
Pulling your credit reports from all three bureaus is the fastest way to see if there are any unauthorized accounts.
What Does the Complaint Pattern Tell You?
One of the most pointed criticisms found in the research came from a consumer on 800notes who questioned the underlying logic of the system. That consumer asked what kind of fraud alert service would tell you to give an unknown caller the last six digits of your credit card number, characterizing the expectation as “unreasonable for anyone with common sense.”
A Google Groups commenter put their finger on the essential problem even more directly, saying the callers did not fully identify themselves but asked you to call back and give them all the information someone would need to commit fraud with your credit card account.
The pattern across hundreds of complaints is pretty clear: this system is asking consumers to behave in the exact way every single bank tells them to never behave.
Conclusion
What’s the Next Step You Should Take?
Every question in this article leads to one answer. You do not owe information to an automated system that called you. You do not owe a return call to a number you do not recognize. And you do not owe payment on an account you have not verified through independent means.
How FightCollections.com Can Help
If 866-518-0213 keeps showing up on your caller ID and the calls are tied to an account that’s impacting your credit report, the next step is not to engage with the caller. The next step is to understand your rights and then exercise them.
FightCollections.com is a firm specializing in disputing credit report errors and holding debt collectors to the letter of the law when they step over the line. If this number is connected to a collection account on your credit report, reach out to us for a free consultation to see if deletion is a potential outcome in your case.
