What are Placer County Area Codes?
Area codes are the first three digits that appear at the beginning of North American telephone numbers. They specify the actual Numbering Plan Area (NPA) in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), where the call originates. Free reverse phone lookup services can be used for area code lookup. The California Public Utilities Commission regulates area codes in the state.
Area Code 530
Area code 530 covers Northeastern and Northern California. It was created as a split from area code 916 on November 1, 1997.
Area Code 916
Area code 916 was created in 1947. It was one of the first three area codes in California. Area code 916 was split in 1959 to create the 707 area code. It was again split in 1997 to create area code 530. Currently, the 916 area code and its overlay area code 279 cover the Greater Sacramento area.
Area Code 279
Area code 279 was launched in March 2018 to supplement the exhausted supply of telephone numbers in the 916 area code. It serves Sacramento and its surrounding suburbs.
What Are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Placer County?
The cell phone carriers with the widest coverage in Placer County are AT&T with 100% coverage and Verizon with 90% coverage. The other major cell phone carriers, namely T-Mobile and Sprint are also active in some areas such as the City of Roseville, Placer County’s largest city. Here, Verizon has the best coverage with 96%, followed by Sprint with 80%, T-Mobile with 78%, and AT&T with 66% coverage.
A 2018 National Center of Health Statistics survey shows that an estimate of 55.4% of the California adult population used only wireless telephones, while 3.3% of California adults used only landlines. When compared to the minors’ choice of telephony services, there is a significant difference. Of the minors under the age of 18 in California, 63.5% preferred wireless-only services, while only 1.8% used landline telephony services. From this report, it is evident that the use of cell phones has notably exceeded the use of landlines in Placer County.
VoIP means Voice over Internet Protocol. It enables voice and multimedia communications from the sender to the receiver over the internet. VoIP is gradually taking over the telecommunications system due to its flexibility and affordability. With VoIP, residents and businesses can access top-notch telephony features at low costs compared to traditional phone lines.
What Are Placer County Phone Scams?
Placer County phone scams are fraudulent activities perpetrated by scammers to defraud or steal personal information from residents through telephony services. Placer County residents can use good reverse phone number lookup services to identify and block scammers that contact them. However, note that with advanced telephony services such as VoIP, scammers can duplicate the phone numbers of legitimate entities to make residents fall for their ploys.
Here are some scams perpetrated in Placer County:
What are COVID-19 Scams?
Fraudsters usually take advantage of periods of uncertainties such as COVID-19. In these scams, residents receive calls from persons that claim to be county officials or representatives of the California Department of Public Health Agency. These fraudsters then demand the recipients’ personal information, including their dates of birth and social security numbers. They claim to need them for statistical reports or for COVID-19 contact tracing, testing, vaccines, and treatments. These scammers request confidential details such as Social Security numbers, credit card information, immigration status, etc. Although legitimate health workers may contact residents for any of the aforementioned related issues, fraudsters exploit this to fulfill their scams.
Placer County residents are advised to ignore unsolicited calls, texts, and emails from unfamiliar sources. Free reverse phone lookup services can be used to identify unfamiliar phone numbers. In addition, avoid disclosing your personal financial information over the phone or through email or text messages. To get updates on the COVID-19 virus, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the California Department of Public Health Agency for facts and updates about COVID-19. COVID-19 scams can be reported by reaching out to the law enforcement agencies in the state.
What are Jury Warrant Payment Scams?
Here, county residents receive calls from scammers claiming to be employees of the Sheriff’s Office. The scammers then demand payments to clear up pending warrants for not appearing for jury duties. The aim is to instill fear in the hearts of targets by threatening arrest or more severe consequences for persons that refuse to pay.
You can use a free reverse phone lookup service to identify the caller. However, this only applies to a case where the scammer did not spoof the Caller ID of a law enforcement officer. If you receive such a call, hang up and immediately contact the Placer County Sheriff’s Office to report the call.
What are Impersonation Scams?
Impersonation scams involve scammers taking on the identities of legitimate entities to make their ploys believable. In some cases, these scammers take on the identities of government agencies and legitimate businesses. The goal of this is to get their targets to disclose their personal o r financial details, pretending to need them for official updates or to process certain social benefits. Some of the government agencies and legitimate businesses that scammers mostly impersonate include the IRS, law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, and health institutions.
In addition, scammers steal the identities of their targets’ family members or friends and appeal for loans, which they will never pay back. A good reverse phone lookup service can be used to answer the question “who called me.” However, be informed that a scammer can duplicate the phone number of the person they intend to impersonate. If you receive such a call, hang up immediately and directly contact the person or government official that was impersonated to verify the call.
What are Charity Scams?
Charity scams are usually prevalent in the county after the occurrence of natural disasters that adversely affect certain residents. These scams involve fraudsters calling county residents to solicit donations to fake charitable organizations. In reality, the funds generated from donations of unsuspecting residents will be misappropriated. Also, be informed that some of these fraudsters may claim to be representatives of legitimate charity organizations. This is why it is advised that you make your donations directly to charitable organizations instead of through third-parties that may most likely be fraudsters.
If you receive a call where the caller solicits a donation to a charitable organization, you may conduct a phone number lookup to verify the caller’s identity by using websites that offer reverse phone lookup free.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Automated calls that deliver pre-recorded audio messages are referred to as robocalls. Typically, these calls are sent on behalf of political parties, non-profit organizations, and telemarketing companies. Robocalls mostly contain prompts for the recipients to be transferred to live-agents or to unsubscribe from receiving such calls. Because of the large number of persons robocalls can reach and its affordability, scammers now use robocalls to perpetrate their schemes. Reverse number lookup services can be used to spot and block robocalls. Spam calls are irrelevant calls that are placed without the consent of the recipients. Free phone number lookup apps can be used to block spam calls.
The FTC provides residents with detailed information on robocalls and how to block unwanted calls. Here are some ways to avoid falling victim to robocalls scams:
- Hang up the moment you notice that you have picked a robocall. In addition, do not follow any prompts given during the call because this may be a bait to identify active numbers and target them with more calls.
- Get a free reverse phone lookup app and activate it. This will help flag robocalls and spam calls and block them.
- Report illegal robocalls through the FTC’s online complaint assistant or call 1-888-382-1222.
- Add your telephone number on the National Do Not Call Registry to restrict robocalls and other unsolicited sales calls from telemarketers. When your number is added to the registry, you will be able to easily spot illegal robocalls and possible phone scams.
How to Spot and Report Placer County Phone Scams?
Individuals can use good reverse phone lookup services to identify fraudsters. Fraudsters are skilled at developing new systems of operation to carry out their schemes without any suspicion. For this reason, Placer County residents must know how to identify scams and report them. Here are some red flags that show that you have received a scam call:
- You are told to disclose your personal information or make a payment over the phone - Hang up the call immediately. If the person that called claims to be an employee of a legitimate business or government agency, directly contact the impersonated person after hanging up to inform them about the call. Phone numbers of government agencies and business organizations are usually on their official websites.
- You receive incessant calls from an unknown number - Use a reverse phone number lookup service to identify the caller. You can also block the caller’s phone number with this service. For other options, reach out to your phone carrier to inquire about call blocking.
- The caller persuades you to register for a business or investment offer that seems tricky - Hang up immediately. An offer that appears too good to be true is most likely a scam. Always do intensive research on any offer you are presented with before accepting it.
- You are told to pay certain processing fees before claiming a reward - Lotteries, prizes, grants, sweepstakes, that require that you first make payment are potential scams. End the call immediately and do not disclose your financial information to the caller or make any form of payment. Note that payments made via wire transfers, reloadable debit cards, or gift cards are difficult to track and may never be refunded
- The caller tells you to conceal the details of a call - Hang up and inform trusted family members or friends.
The government institutions listed below help combat phone scams in Placer County:
Placer County Sheriff’s Office - Use the Placer County Sheriff’s Office’s Online Reporting System to report a scam or visit the physical office at:
Placer County Sheriff's Office
2929 Richardson Drive
Auburn, CA 95603
Phone: 530-889-7800
Better Business Bureau for Northern California - File an online complaint or call (866) 411-2221 to report a scam.
Public Inquiry Unit of the California Attorney General's Office - Responsible for investigating consumer fraud complaints. The Public Inquiry Unit can be contacted at 800-952-5225. An online complaint form can also be completed to file a complaint.
Federal Trade Commission - Guides residents on ways to identify common phone scams and avoid robocalls. The National Do Not Call Registry is also an initiative of the FTC to reduce unwanted sales calls that may sometimes be from scammers. Report phone scams or suspicious calls through the FTC’s online consumer complaint assistant.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - Provides residents with information on ways to identify Caller ID spoofing and enable call blocking. The FCC also helps combat illegal caller ID spoofing by partnering with telephone carriers to improve caller authentication technology. Report any form of illegal caller ID spoofing and other phone scams to the FCC by filling out the online complaint form.