What are Yolo County Area Codes?
Yolo County area codes are the three-digit numeric prefix at the beginning of phone numbers registered in the county. Generally, area codes identify telephone service areas, known as Numbering Plan Areas (NPAs) in a state, as established by the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). As delegated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) manages California area codes, including Yolo County. The Commission, with the NANPA, works together in assigning new codes when the need for additional area codes arises in California.
Currently, two area codes cover Yolo County. These are:
Area Code 916
Area code 916 is one of the original 86 area codes that came into active service in 1947. It is a California telephone code that serves most parts of northern California, including Yolo County. Communities in Yolo County under the 916 NPA are West Sacramento and Clarksburg.
Area Code 530
Split from the 916 California telephone code in 1997, area code 530 covers many counties in the state, including Yolo County. Yolo County cities and towns within the 530 NPA include Woodland, Davis, Guinda, Esparto, Winters, and Dunnigan.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Yolo County?
Yolo County residents enjoy coverage by the major phone carriers. However, the quality of cover and signal are diverse across the communities within the county. The largest city in Yolo County, West Sacramento, has a coverage of 98% by Verizon, while AT&T provides 74% cover. Sprint spreads over 76% of the city, while Sprint has the least network coverage at 66%. T-Mobile provides network coverage in the City of Woodland, the county seat, and it is the only major phone carrier in the city. Each of these carriers also provides quality internet services. Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) extend network services at affordable rates in Yolo County's rural settlement. Some parts of these regions are without the presence of national carriers.
Wireless telephony services adoption in California has increased over the years as more residents continue to abandon their landline phones. The data obtained from a 2018 CDC survey for California showed that 63.5% of the children population had adopted cell phones solely for telecommunication. Only 1.8% of them still used landline phones exclusively. In the same year, California had 3.3% and 55.4% of its adult population solely using landline and wireless telephony services, respectively. This is an indication that cell phones are steadily displacing landline phones in many California homes.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) uses IP networks to provide telephone services for Yolo County residents at cheaper rates when compared to landlines. The internet is the most common IP network used by VoIP to convey online real-time communications between users. VoIP supports video calling, call forwarding, voicemail, text messaging, and audio calling. Businesses and individuals can subscribe to any of the numerous VoIP providers in the county to enjoy its services.
What are Yolo County Phone Scams?
Yolo County phone scams are fraudulent acts that use live phone calls, text messages, and robocalls to steal money and information from Yolo County residents. Once scammers obtain their victims' financial and personal information, the result is usually identity and financial theft. Fraudsters are heavy users of phone spoofing. They mostly spoof their marks' Caller IDs to display reputable businesses' and government agencies' official phone numbers while preying on them. Scammers know well than to use their real phone numbers to perpetrate frauds. Phone spoofing hides their identities, which often makes tracking and arresting them almost impossible. However, reverse phone lookup services can help identify spoofed phone calls and prevent residents from falling victim to phone scams.
A handful of public agencies provide consumer protection against phone scams for Yolo County residents. These include:
- California Department of Consumer Affairs (CDCA)
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- California Office of the Attorney General (OAG)
- Yolo County Sheriff's Office (YCSO)
The following are some commonly perpetrated phone scams in Yolo County:
What are Yolo County Advance Fee Scams?
Fraudsters who commit advance fee scams in Yolo County often pose as representatives of legitimate businesses to fool their targets. However, doing reverse phone lookups can help retrieve their real identities. Advance fee scams are frauds in which the victims are asked to make small upfront payments and anticipate something of higher value, especially large sums of money. There are many variations of advance-fee scams, but all aim to cheat residents out of their money. In a popular version, fraudsters ask targeted residents to pay specific money upfront to cover taxes and processing fees before claiming lottery winnings. Unfortunately, naive residents who never even entered such contests fall victim to this scheme.
Another variant involves fraudsters who prey on residents who have needs for urgent credit but have poor credit reports. The scammers often call out of the blues to offer financing arrangements that will require their targets to pay finders' fees, which they collect in advance. Investment scams are also a form of advance-fee scams. In this scam scheme, targeted residents are asked to invest their money in some supposed rare business opportunities and receive high returns at later dates. In these scams, fraudsters typically request payment by wire transfers or gift cards, while victims usually end up receiving little or nothing in return for money paid. To avoid these scams, Yolo County residents should never jump at offers presented by unknown callers requesting advance payments and that appear overly beneficial.
What are Yolo County Arrest Warrant Scams?
Arrest warrant scams involve fraudsters who pretend to be with law enforcement to prey on Yolo County residents for possible extortion. These scammers favor phone spoofing to make it appear as if incoming calls are from the Yolo County Sheriff's Office (YCSO) when contacting their marks. Residents can, however, detect spoofed phone calls using number lookup applications and avoid scams. In these scams, fraudsters tell targeted residents that there are warrants out for their arrests and then use scare tactics to instill fear in them. They will then demand fines payment and threaten to execute arrest if the targets do not pay such fines immediately. These callers often request payment by gift cards or wire transfers. In some instances, these scammers will pretend to be helping targets out of their predicaments and warn them not to discuss the telephone engagement with anyone.
The YCSO warns residents never to feel pressured into paying such imposters. Yolo County residents can verify arrest warrant claims by contacting their local law enforcement agencies. Legitimate law enforcement officers do not threaten arrest and will never solicit money over the phone. If you receive a call from someone who claims to be with law enforcement and demand payment of fines, know that it is a scam. Hang up at once and report the incident to your local law enforcement. Reverse phone lookup services can return the identity information of these imposters.
What are Yolo County IRS Scams?
Yolo County residents can use phone number lookup services to retrieve information on the true identities of unknown callers who claim to be with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In these scams, fraudsters impersonate employees of the IRS and prey on residents to steal money and confidential information. In most cases, they spoof their marks' Caller IDs to make it look like their targets are being contacted by the IRS and to increase their chances of success. Although the IRS scams have many variations, in the most common one, scammers inform their targets of false delinquent taxes and demand immediate payment. They often threaten to arrest them if they fail to pay as demanded. IRS scammers’ choice of receiving payment includes wire transfers and gift cards and will never accept payment through official methods. They sometimes request their victims' credit card information to complete payment. Scammers use such ploys to acquire information and commit financial theft.
If you have doubts about your tax status, contact the IRS at 1 (800) 829-1040 to know if you are behind or not on taxes. You can report these types of calls to the Treasury Inspector General of Tax Administration (TIGTA) online or call 1 (800) 366-4484. Yolo County residents must know that legitimate employees of the IRS do not threaten arrest over the phone and will not request payment in unsolicited calls. Furthermore, the IRS does not call residents regarding unpaid taxes without first notifying them with written letters via mail.
What Yolo County are Social Security Scams?
In social security scams, fraudsters pretend to be calling from the Social Security Administration (SSA) or law enforcement and accuse Yolo County residents of petty claims. Sometimes, they may claim there is a problem with their targets' social security numbers (SSNs) or say that their accounts have been suspended. The callers may appear as wanting to help and then offer to fix the issues. They will request their targets to confirm their SSNs for verification purposes and then commit identity theft. These scammers may also inform targeted residents that their SSNs have been linked to crimes and warn them that they will be arrested. They will then offer to clear targets' names. To do this, they will instruct their marks to put money on gift cards and send the card numbers to them or request to be paid by wire transfers.
Yolo County residents should avoid social security scams by all means to prevent identity theft. Reverse phone lookup services can help determine the true identities of such callers and help residents avoid these scams. The SSA will never ask residents to confirm their SSNs in unsolicited calls or solicit money over the phone. Report incidents of these scams online to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), SSA. Do not disclose your personal information or send money to anyone over the phone, especially if you did not initiate the call.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls use autodialers to deliver pre-recorded messages to selected phone numbers. These calls are intrusive and inundating. If you receive a phone call and hear an automated voice, that is a robocall. Although primarily intended for legitimate purposes by telemarketers, government, and political organizations, scammers now use robocalls in their deceptive schemes. They often spoof Caller IDs when using robocalls and pretend to be with reputable businesses or government agencies to fool their targets and then rip them off. Phone number search applications can help identify robocalls, spoofed or not. Robocalls are also spam calls. Spam calls are unreasonable calls sent to mass phone numbers of users who have not indicated an interest in receiving such calls. You can avoid robocall scams by doing the following:
- Report robocall abuse to the FTC by calling 1 (888) 382-1222 or online.
- Hang up the phone once you know that a call is a robocall.
- Add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry to reduce the inundation of robocalls. To do this, call 1 (888) 382-1222 from the phone number you intend to put on the registry. If you still get robocalls after 31 days of registration, consider them illegal.
- Contact your phone company to block identified robocall numbers from calling you. Many phone companies offer call-blocking services for free. You can also block robocall and spam numbers using third-party call blocking applications available for smartphones.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provides tips on how to stop robocalls and avoid scams. You can harness this resource to prevent illegal robocalls.
How Can You Spot and Report Yolo County Phone Scams?
In Yolo County, phone scammers attempt to steal money and obtain both identity and financial information deceptively. Residents can identify scam calls by staying informed on the latest scams. Many public agencies provide education and scam alerts to keep residents informed on current scams. Familiarising yourself with the various tactics employed by scammers, as published by these agencies, is the best way to spot phone scams. Reverse phone lookup services can return identifying information on callers behind suspicious phone numbers and prevent you from falling victim to scams. If you receive a call from an unknown person, you can tell if it is a scam call if you observe the following:
- The caller (unknown) poses as a representative of a company that specially selected you for a prize and asks that you share your financial and personal information.
- The caller claims to sell products with a limited-time offer and persuades you to pay right on the phone before running out of stock.
- The caller claims to be with familiar government agencies to request personal information and issues a threat if you fail to give them.
- The caller intentionally avoids any question you ask regarding their claims or offers.
- The caller pretends to be an employee of a government agency and requests that you pay a fine by wire transfers or gift cards. Legitimate employees of the government will never request payment via such unofficial methods.
Yolo County residents can report incidents of phone scams to the following agencies:
Federal Communications Commission - The FCC implements policies that protect consumers from scams. Victims of phone spoofing scams, robocall scams, and other phone scams may file complaints online with the FCC or call 1-888-225-5322.
Federal Trade Commission - The FTC developed the National Do Not Call Registry to protect consumers from phone scams, especially those committed with robocalls. Yolo County residents who have been victims of phone scams may file complaints with the FTC.
California Office of the Attorney General - The OAG is the primary consumer protection agency in California. Persons who believe they are victims of phone scams in Yolo County can file complaints online with the OAG.
Yolo County Sheriff's Office - The YCSO uses paid and free reverse phone lookup services to uncover scammers’ identities during phone scams investigations. You can report a phone scam incident to the YCSO by contacting the Crime Prevention Unit at (530) 668-5298. Alternatively, you can file your complaint in person by visiting the YCSO at 140 Tony Diaz Drive, Woodland, CA 95776.