Are you getting calls from 978-444-5700? That number belongs to Credit Collection Services. They are contacting you because CCS believes you have a debt with them.
Whether it is an insurance debt, a medical debt, or a collection account, it was assigned to CCS.
This is the part where you tell us that you know all of this because you've been receiving these calls, and you don't know how to stop them. You also don't know who Credit Collection Services is, and you don't know what to do about the debt they say you owe.
So, let's get to the bottom of all of this.
Who is Credit Collection Services?
Credit Collection Services is also known as The CCS Companies and Credit Control Services, Inc. Here is what we found out about them: Type of entity: Third-party debt collection agency, debt buyer, business process outsourcer Date founded: 1966, incorporated in 1969 in the state of Delaware Headquarters address: 725 Canton Street, Norwood, MA 02062 Other offices: Portsmouth, NH; Salem, NH; Canton, MA; Attleboro, MA Employee count: 501 to 1,000 as a privately held company Annual placements: over $5 billion Annual revenue: approximately $107 million Better Business Bureau rating: B since June 2023 (accredited), 1.02 out of 5 stars from customer reviews Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaints filed: over 2,000 Better Business Bureau complaints filed: 3,966 in the last three years Industries served: insurance subrogation, healthcare, banking, telecom, utilities, government, education, retail Known clients: GEICO, Allstate, Progressive, Nationwide, LabCorp Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System ID: 1098814
They Have Been Here Before
CCS has been sued before for their calling behavior. In the case of Sengenberger v. Credit Control Services, Inc., a federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois ruled that CCS engaged in making illegal pre-recorded calls to a consumer's cell phone in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The judge awarded treble damages of $1,500 per call because the violations were willful. The judge also ruled that CCS violated Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules by not using its legal business name in pre-recorded messages. Sengenberger v. Credit Control Services, Inc. became a cited case in TCPA law. If you are receiving multiple robocalls from 978-444-5700, you are dealing with a company that has already been found liable for this very behavior.
Why is Credit Collection Services calling me?
The Assignment Process
CCS does not originate debts. They receive debts from other companies, like GEICO, Allstate, and Nationwide, and LabCorp. When one of these companies decides a debt is delinquent, they assign or sell the debt to CCS for collection. This means that the debt they are calling about might have originated months or even years ago with a company you have already dealt with. That original creditor may have already closed the account in their system while CCS is still trying to collect it in theirs.
Why the debt might not be yours
Many of the consumers who report calls from this number also say that the debt CCS is trying to collect is not their debt. One consumer contacted LabCorp directly after CCS called and demanded $300 and found that there was no balance due. Another consumer was told that he owed LabCorp $460 but when he asked when he incurred the debt and what it was for, the caller could not tell him.
These are not isolated examples. The debt collection industry operates on the wholesale transfer of debt information between companies, and mistakes happen all the time. A misspelled name, a transposed digit in a Social Security number, or an account record that was never updated when it was paid can all result in collection calls to the wrong person.
How does Credit Collection Services operate?
The Verification Trap
One of the most common behaviors consumers report about 978-444-5700 is that the caller demands personal information before they will discuss why they called. One consumer described the experience like this: they asked for my Social Security number and address and would not tell me the company name unless I confirmed my information first. When I declined, the agent hung up.
Another consumer reported that the caller used the initials of her son's private school as a pretext, which prompted her to escalate the matter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A third consumer called the number back and was asked to confirm an address. When he asked the caller to give the address first, the caller refused and hung up.
This is not an accident. CCS places over $5 billion in annual debt, spread across millions of accounts. When consumers confirm their identity first, CCS has a record that they called the right person, which improves their chances if the account is disputed later. Recognizing this for the tactic that it is puts you in the position of not playing along.
Robocalls by the Dozen
Nomorobo identified 978-444-5700 as a confirmed robocaller, and RoboKiller registered over 137,000 calls from this number alone. Consumers report that they receive anywhere from four to ten calls per day. One consumer on the site Should I Answer wrote that CCS calls as often as ten times per day, starting with a long pause followed by a robot voice that asks you to confirm your information before a human agent joins the call.
Another consumer reported that they filed complaints with both the FCC and the Do Not Call list, and when they told the caller to stop calling them, the calls continued for over a year. This kind of volume is not an accident. It is a strategy to overwhelm consumers into answering, engaging, and eventually paying.
What are consumers saying about these calls?
Debts they don't owe, balances they never had
The theme of CCS trying to collect debts that consumers say are not debts they owe is one of the most consistent ones across review platforms. One consumer on 800notes put it bluntly: CCS claims to be a credited collection company, but they harass people for debts they never owed, and they were going to take legal action.
On the Better Business Bureau (BBB) site, a consumer reported that CCS was reporting a collection account from GEICO that showed a balance and status of $0, paid, but the account continued to show up as a negative item on his credit report. A CCS representative told him that he needed to pay $88 to have the negative reporting removed. When a company demands that you pay them money to correct what appears to be their own mistake, it raises some serious questions about the accuracy of their data.
Promises not kept and form letters
When consumers do pay, they often report that CCS does not uphold its end of the bargain. One consumer wrote: I paid in full and they agreed to delete the collection from my credit reports, but instead, they reported that the account was settled for less than the full balance. When I called to rectify the situation, the representative said that they did not have the ability to correct or delete the account.
CCS has a standard response to complaints filed on the BBB site that consists of a single sentence acknowledging receipt of the complaint and pledging to respond to the consumer directly. For many of these complaints, CCS dismisses them as mass-produced template disputes from credit repair organizations. Only 6.9 percent of complaints filed on the BBB site were resolved to the consumer's satisfaction. The other 93.1 percent were met with form letters.
How to protect yourself and your credit
Why you should not call them back
Calling CCS may seem like the obvious next step, but it is a step you should not take. Every time you initiate contact with a debt collector, you are giving them an opportunity to get information from you, to restart the statute of limitations on a time-barred debt, or to generate a paper trail showing that you acknowledged that you owe a debt. In the world of debt collection, the party that controls the conversation has the upper hand, and when you call them, you are giving them that control.
Collection agencies generally do not respond to goodwill letters or informal requests to delete accounts. That is not how their business model works. They collect debts using standardized protocols and automation, not one-off negotiations with individual consumers. A nice letter asking them to reconsider is unlikely to get a response.
The battle is won and lost at the credit report
The single most effective way to handle a collection agency like CCS is through your credit report, not through your phone. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you have the legal right to dispute any information on your credit report that you believe is not accurate, not complete, or not verifiable. The burden of proof is on the entity reporting the information, not you.
Debt buyers purchase debts for pennies on the dollar. When they buy a debt so cheaply, that means that the paper trail is not that robust. The original contract may be missing. The account records may be incomplete. The chain of custody from the original creditor to the current debt collector may have gaps. When a disputed credit reporting item cannot be verified with satisfactory documentation, the credit reporting agency is required to delete it.
This is why simply disputing an item is often enough to have it removed. You do not need to show evidence that the debt is invalid. You only need to require the collector to show that it is valid, and in many cases, they cannot.
Professional credit repair operates on this principle, using a systematic and repeatable process instead of winging it.
Conclusion
Credit Collection Services is a big company with a lot of resources that has been in the debt collection business for almost 60 years. They place billions of dollars' worth of debt every year, and they have hundreds of agents who make calls just like the ones you are getting from 978-444-5700. But just because they are big and established does not mean that what they are telling you about your debt is true.
Nearly 4,000 complaints filed through the Better Business Bureau, with only a 6.9 percent resolution rate, tells you everything you need to know about how they handle these situations on their own terms.
You do not have to handle this situation on their terms. The FCRA and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) exist for the express purpose of giving consumers leverage over companies that are reporting inaccurate information and engaging in abusive collection practices. Those laws are not shields to defend yourself. They are weapons you can use to force accountability.
Take the first step today
If 978-444-5700 is calling and harassing you, and if you have a Credit Collection Services entry on your credit report, getting a free consultation from our team at FightCollections.com can help you figure out where you stand. There is no cost, no obligation, and no pressure. It is just a chance to get a clear understanding of your options before you decide how to proceed.
Head over to FightCollections.com and schedule your free case review today.