Who is calling you from this number?
If you are getting calls from 866-576-8284 you are getting them from ER Solutions.
ER Solutions is a third-party debt collector. They are an arm of Convergent Outsourcing, Inc., which is owned by Transworld Systems Inc., one of the largest debt collection agencies in the United States. You might see other names show up on your caller ID such as MCO Financial, NCO Financial, or Trans World Systems Incorporated.
Here is what we know about the company behind the number:
Type of company: Third-party debt collection (also operates as a first-party agency for original creditors)
Types of debt collected: Telecommunications, cable/satellite, utilities, e-commerce, healthcare, government, automotive
Headquarters: Renton, Washington 98057
Parent company: Convergent Outsourcing, Inc. owned by Transworld Systems Inc.
Company size: Privately held; 700-4,500 employees with U.S. offices and operations in Guatemala, India, and the Philippines
Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating: A- for Convergent Outsourcing (not BBB accredited); ER Solutions profiles are unrated
Known clients: Verizon, Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network, T-Mobile, Sprint, PayPal, CenturyLink, Cox, PSEG, LVNV Funding
A history of bad behavior
If you feel like these calls are harassing, you are not alone.
ER Solutions and Convergent Outsourcing have paid out over $13.3 million in legal settlements related to illegal phone calls and deceptive letters. This includes a $5.5 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class-action settlement that involved over 503,000 illegally called phone numbers and a $3.75 million settlement for autodialer calls that continued after consumers requested them to stop.
The Washington State Attorney General sued Convergent for sending over 75,000 deceptive letters on debts that were past the statute of limitations. The case resulted in $1.675 million in restitution and refunds.
Why is ER Solutions calling you?
They purchased or were assigned a debt in your name
ER Solutions is a debt collector. If you are getting calls from 866-576-8284 it is because one of their clients (maybe Verizon, Comcast, DirecTV, T-Mobile, Sprint, or PayPal) has placed a delinquent account with them for collection.
A former employee confirmed on a consumer review platform that Comcast uses Convergent to collect on disconnected accounts. The person calling you may not even identify themselves as being from the company you originally had an account with.
They might have the wrong person
One of the most common complaints about this phone number is wrong-person calls. Collection agencies do not make public the companies they collect for and their skip-tracing technology associates phone numbers with names based on databases that are frequently incorrect or outdated.
One consumer on 800Notes explained what was happening to them: “A woman named Garlanda had this phone number before me. She must have gotten in some serious trouble because I get these calls daily. NCO Financial — STOP calling me. I’m not who you’re looking for.”
This consumer inherited the harassment simply because they were assigned a recycled phone number.
What consumers are saying about these calls
Overwhelming call volume and silent robocalls
The complaints about 866-576-8284 are remarkably consistent. There are multiple reports of daily calls that either have no one on the other end or play a recorded message. One consumer reported returning from a summer away to find over 20 messages from this number.
Another consumer described their experience this way: “Researching this number because they NEVER leave a message and the one time I answered there was no response on their end.”
Others are describing a recorded message from Transworld Systems Inc. with a caller ID that reads MCO Financial, which only adds to the confusion and frustration.
Asking for personal data before IDing themselves
Multiple consumers are reporting that callers from this number are asking for social security numbers or dates of birth before identifying themselves or explaining why they are calling.
One consumer reported: “They said Transworld Systems… ‘Could you verify the last 4 of social or date of birth’… ‘I don’t know who you are or why you are calling, there is no way I am giving you this personal information.’”
That consumer’s instincts were correct. You are never obligated to give personal data to an unidentified caller. This is particularly concerning because Convergent Outsourcing was the victim of a data breach in 2022 that exposed the personal data of over 640,000 consumers and resulted in a $2.45 million settlement.
Where does ER Solutions operate?
A national collection agency with weak-enforcement-state tendencies
ER Solutions and Convergent Outsourcing have offices throughout Washington, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, and New Jersey, and offshore operations in Guatemala, India, and the Philippines.
This is a national collection agency. Their history of legal settlements suggests where they are pushing the hardest. The Washington AG’s lawsuit documented tens of thousands of deceptive letters aimed at consumers in that state.
Debt collectors operate more aggressively in states with weaker enforcement or shorter statutes of limitations.
State-based consumer protection creates an uneven playing field
If you live in a state with a strong consumer protection agency you have likely seen those agencies take action against Convergent. But if you live in a state with less active enforcement you may never see intervention even though the same tactics are being employed.
This is why disputing accounts through the credit bureaus is such an effective strategy. Credit bureau disputes trigger your obligations under federal law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which is uniformly applicable in all fifty states regardless of your local consumer protection landscape.
How to make the calls stop
Why you should never call them back
Your immediate reaction might be to call 866-576-8284 and tell them to stop calling you. That is exactly what they want you to do. Any contact with a debt collector can revive the clock on the status of your account, provide them with information they need, or lure you into making a payment that will revive the statute of limitations.
While it is technically possible to dispute a debt on your own, the cumulative experience of consumers suggests that direct engagement rarely delivers the result you want, which is the complete removal of the account from your credit report.
Dispute the account through the credit bureaus instead
The most effective way to stop unwanted calls from ER Solutions is to dispute the underlying collection account through the credit reporting agencies. Under the FCRA you have the right to demand that any item on your credit report be verified as accurate. If the debt collector cannot provide that verification the account must be deleted.
Debt verification is a consumer right, not a courtesy. You are entitled to proof of the debt, including the amount, the original creditor, and the date of the last payment. Debt collectors like ER Solutions handle millions of accounts and frequently there are significant gaps in their documentation, particularly if the debt has been sold or transferred multiple times.
Complete removal of the collection account is the optimal outcome. Not payment. Not settlement. Deletion from your credit report. That outcome is more common than most consumers realize. Consumers who work with professional credit dispute specialists routinely achieve deletion without ever paying the collector.
Why professional help makes a difference
Knowledge of the system the debt industry is counting on you not to have
ER Solutions has been in the debt collection business since the 1990s. They know exactly how to use pressure tactics to get consumers to make payments and they know that most consumers who try to handle disputes on their own will give up before the process is complete.
Professional credit dispute firms understand the procedural nuances that derail DIY consumers. They understand what documentation to request, how to properly word disputes, and how to escalate when agencies fail to respond within the required timelines.
The BBB noted a formal pattern of complaints against Convergent, saying consumers “could not reach an operator and were told debts were valid without supporting documentation.”
Removal is the goal, not negotiation
There is an important distinction between negotiating with a debt collector and disputing the accuracy of what they are reporting to the credit bureaus. Negotiation keeps you in the collector’s system. Disputing shifts the burden of proof to them and when they cannot meet it the account disappears.
Federal law provides you with specific rights to challenge the accuracy and validity of any debt that is being reported. Exercising those rights with a professional advocate is the most reliable way to never hear from 866-576-8284 again.
Reclaim your phone
You have more power than they want you to know
ER Solutions and its parent companies have paid out over $13.3 million in settlements because of a documented history of pushing the limits.
The calls from 866-576-8284 are part of the same playbook that has generated over 3,600 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaints, 336 Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaints with a formal pattern-of-complaints alert, and hundreds of federal lawsuits.
You are not powerless. Federal consumer protection laws exist to address this situation and ER Solutions’ history proves that those laws work.
Let FightCollections.com fight this for you
If ER Solutions is calling you, sending you letters, or reporting a collection account on your credit report, FightCollections.com can help. Our team specializes in disputing erroneous and unverifiable collection accounts through the credit bureaus, using the same federal laws that have cost ER Solutions and Convergent millions of dollars in penalties.
Contact us today for a free consultation. Let us put the burden of proof where it belongs: on the debt collector, not on you.
