Credit Collection Services (CCS) is the company calling you from 978-444-5800.
They are calling either because they think you owe a debt, or because someone who previously owned your phone number owes a debt. The calls will continue until you make them stop. Credit Collection Services is one of the largest debt collection companies in the country.
Here is what you need to know about them:
Company Name: Credit Collection Services (division of The CCS Companies)
Incorporation Name: Credit Control Services, Inc.
Entity Type: 3rd-party debt collector, debt buyer, and 1st-party collection agency
Address: 725 Canton Street Norwood, MA 02062
Year Founded: 1966
Years in Business: 59
Employees: 847
President/CEO: Steven Sands
Industry Specialties: Medical/healthcare, insurance, telecommunications, utilities, banking, government, retail, education
Better Business Bureau (BBB) Rating (Norwood, MA location): B
Number of BBB Complaints in Last Three Years: 3,966
Number of BBB Complaints in Last 12 Months: 1,074
Average Customer Review on BBB: 1.02/5 stars
CCS collects on nearly every type of consumer debt you can imagine. They hold a Federal Government contract under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule and claim to represent several Fortune 50 companies.
You are not the first person to be harassed by CCS
If you are getting calls from this number, you might feel like they are singling you out. You should know that CCS has been sued multiple times for doing exactly this.
In the class action Quick v. Credit Control Services (2017), the plaintiff alleged that CCS “knowingly initiated automated robocalls to a consumer’s cell phone without prior express consent of the called party; initiated calls to a consumer who was not the intended recipient of the call and to a consumer who did not owe the debt; and continued to initiate calls to the consumer after the consumer asked that the calls stop.”
In Perlin v. Quest Diagnostics and Credit Collection Services (2022), a Federal complaint alleged that CCS “systematically collects medical debts from injured workers whose bills are supposed to be fully covered by workers’ compensation.”
These are just a couple of examples, and there are plenty more where those came from.
Why Is Credit Collection Services Calling Me?
Common Reasons for the Call
CCS operates as both a 3rd-party debt collector and a debt buyer. In their role as a 3rd-party debt collector, they are retained by original creditors to collect on unpaid balances. In their role as a debt buyer, they purchase portfolios of charged-off accounts and attempt to collect on those accounts in their own name.
Filings have confirmed CCS works with the following companies:
Capital One (including Kohl’s credit cards)
GEICO
Allstate
AIG
Nationwide Insurance
Quest Diagnostics
If you have ever had an outstanding debt in one of the following industries, there is a chance that CCS either owns or services your account:
Healthcare
Insurance
Telecommunications
Utilities
Banking
Retail
CCS is calling the wrong number…it doesn’t matter to them
One of the most common complaints about 978-444-5800 is that the calls are for the wrong person. In July 2025, one consumer reported the following on RoboKiller:
“The ID Caller says Credit Collection. We do not owe anybody anything, credit cards are paid as soon as I make a purchase, no mortgage, no car payments, no bills so we should not be having any calls from a collection agency.”
The consumer went on to say that they “did not answer the call” and that CCS “did not leave a message.”
Calling someone who does not owe any debts, not leaving a voicemail, and repeating the process suggests that automated systems are driving the bus here, not human beings.
What Are Consumers Saying About This Number?
Robocalls, dead air, and no voicemails
Phone number 978-444-5800 has been tracked making over 20,000 calls by RoboKiller alone, and over 27,000 consumers have searched for the number on CallApp. Nomorobo has flagged the number as a robocall and added it to their block list as of August 1, 2022.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has received complaints about this number, with 80 percent of complainants characterizing the calls as robocalls or prerecorded messages.
In January 2025, a consumer reported the following about 978-444-5800 on ReportedCalls.com:
“Sent call to VM. They did not leave a message.”
This is one of the hallmarks of predictive dialer systems. The computer dials 20-100 numbers at once, and when the call is connected to voicemail, the computer hangs up instead of leaving any sort of message.
CallerSmart’s data indicates that 66.7 percent of all calling activity from this number happens on Saturdays, with the peak calling hour being 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Calling consumers on weekend mornings with robocalls is a strategy designed to catch people off guard when they are more likely to be at home but less likely to be fully awake/aware.
Demanding your information before telling you who they are
A robocall transcript captured by Nomorobo’s interception service reveals another disturbing trend. The message starts like this:
“Good morning. This is [redacted]. Available. Ok. I am calling, sir, from credit collection services for security purposes. Can you validate?”
The caller identifies themselves as CCS and immediately asks the consumer to provide personal information “for security purposes” before explaining why they are calling or even confirming that they have reached the right person.
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), debt collectors are obligated to clearly communicate who they are and what debt they are calling about. Demanding consumers provide sensitive personal information at the outset inverts this script and puts the collector in the driver’s seat.
Where Are Calls From 978-444-5800 Coming From?
A National Debt Collection Company with Regional Pressure Points
CCS is a national debt collection company based out of their Massachusetts and New Hampshire offices. They hold debt collection licenses in several states and service at least one Federal Government contract under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule.
Data from lookup requests for 978-444-5800 indicates that most activity is coming from Pennsylvania and New York, suggesting that CCS is running heavy campaigns in the Northeast United States.
Why does geography matter in debt collection?
Most consumers would never think about this, but the reality is that state-level consumer protection laws create different risk profiles for debt collectors. Some states like New York, California, and Massachusetts impose more rigorous licensing requirements, shorter statutes of limitation, and stiffer penalties than what is required under Federal law.
State consumer protection laws can give you an edge…
CCS may be a national debt collection company, but they are not immune from state-level accountability. This is exactly why the battle over your credit report is so important…it is governed by Federal law (Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA) that applies equally in all states.
Your credit report is the battlefield. The issue is not whether or not you owe a debt. The issue is what is currently on your credit report and how long it will stay there. A credit report dispute forces CCS to validate the accuracy of every single piece of information they have reported, and if they cannot…then the account has to be deleted.
What NOT to Do When CCS Calls You
Do Not Pick Up the Phone
The knee-jerk reaction of most consumers when a debt collector calls is to answer the phone, engage, and try to resolve the issue. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. Everything you say on the phone can be recorded and used against you, and CCS monitors 100 percent of their phone interactions using speech analytics software.
The consumer who made this post on 800notes in April 2025 had the right idea:
“Trying to find out who calls from this phone number.”
Instead of picking up or calling back, this consumer searched for information first. That is the perfect strategy.
Do Not Pay to Make It Go Away
Paying a collection account might feel like the most direct way to make the problem go away, but in practice, it can actually make your situation worse. Paying a collection account can create documentary evidence that you acknowledge the debt and recognize its legitimacy, which in some cases can reset the clock or create legal admissions.
One Better Business Bureau (BBB) reviewer learned this lesson the hard way, saying in a review dated January 2024:
“I settled an account and paid in full with the verbal agreement that it would be removed from my credit report. However, its still showing on my credit report and reflecting negatively.”
Paying the account did not solve the problem. It cemented the problem in place. A collection account can stay on your credit report for seven years from the original date of delinquency, even if you pay it. The object of the exercise should never be to pay a debt collector. The object of the exercise should be to get the account completely removed through a properly executed credit report dispute.
Stop CCS Before They Stop You
Time Is Not on Your Side
Every day that a Credit Collection Services collection account remains on your credit report without a challenge is another day that it is dragging down your credit score and holding back your financial options. The sooner you act, the better your outcome will be.The more time that passes with a collection account sitting on your credit report, the more likely it is to become a permanent fixture.
One Better Business Bureau (BBB) reviewer explained the impact in November 2023: “This company never got in contact me… They hit my credit as a new account and reported to the credit bureau and my credit score down 64 points. I was in the position of purchasing a home.”
This reviewer went from being eligible for a mortgage to being turned down because a collection account appeared on their credit report without warning.
CCS has racked up almost 4,000 complaints on the BBB website in just three years and currently ranks number seven on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) list of most-complained-about non-bank companies. Despite this, they have not faced a single Federal or state enforcement action. The regulators are not riding to the rescue here.
What consumers should be doing instead is calling FightCollections.com.
Reach Out to FightCollections.com Now
If you are getting calls from 978-444-5800, then the clock is ticking. FightCollections.com specializes in disputing bogus collection accounts and pushing back on debt collection companies like Credit Collection Services who are counting on you to do nothing.
A properly executed credit report dispute will force CCS to verify every detail about the account they are reporting, and the reality is that documentation gaps are far more common than you might think.
Do not call Credit Collection Services back. Do not pay them. Do not ignore the problem. Contact FightCollections.com today and have a team that knows how to navigate the process take the fight to your credit report…where it actually counts.
