What are Greene County Area Codes?
Three area codes serve the communities that make up Greene County. These are area code 326, 740, and 937. An area code is a three-digit designation for an NPA or numbering plan area. Numbering plan areas were created with the introduction of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in 1947. The NANP replaced the many incompatible telephone exchanges in the US and produced a unified system that makes call routing easier and more efficient. An NPA corresponds to a geographic location. It can cover an entire state, one or more counties, or a big city. In a 10-digit North American phone number, the area code is the first three digits.
Area Code 937
Created in September 1996 as a split from the 513 NPA, area code 937 currently covers the entirety of southwestern Ohio. It is notable for spelling out the word, YES, on a phone keypad. This happy coincidence was used in ads to promote it when it was introduced. Communities in Greene County served by area code 937 include Beavercreek, Xenia, Bellbrook, Dayton, and Fairborn.
Area Code 326
This is an overlay code for area code 937. It was created in an overlay plan in March 2020 after it was determined that area code 937 would be exhausted in the third quarter of that year. As an overlay code, area code 326 covers the same cities, townships, villages, census-designated areas, and unincorporated communities in Greene County as area code 937.
Area Code 740
Area code 740 was created from area code 614 in November 1997 following a split plan. It covers southwestern and central parts of Ohio. It serves some cities, villages, and townships in Greene County. Parts of Spring Valley, Jamestown, Yellow Springs, Dayton, and Xenia are covered by area code 740.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Greene County?
More than half of the residents of Ohio have shifted away from landlines to wireless phones. This is one of the conclusions of a 2018 wireless substitution survey conducted by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. In that report, 58.5% of adults in the state used wireless phone services exclusively for their telecommunication needs while a much smaller 4.3% still relied on landline phones only. The difference between wireless and landline phone subscriber numbers was wider for minors in the state. The survey showed that 71.8% of residents under the age of 18 used wireless phones exclusively while a paltry 2% were landline-only phone users.
Like the rest of the state, residents of Greene County enjoy phone services provided by the major US carriers. AT&T has the biggest network in the state by covering 99.9% of Ohio. Verizon and T-Mobile come close to AT&T with 96.7% and 96.4% coverage respectively. Sprint’s network only extends to 82% of the state. Besides these major carriers, Ohioans can also sign up for phone services offered by MVNOs. MVNOs or Mobile Virtual Network Operators are regional carriers that rely on the network infrastructure of major carriers. These smaller phone service providers buy bulk network services from major carriers and repackage them into bundles that are appealing to those living in their service areas. Signing up for phone service with an MVNO can be cheaper as they pass some of the savings of their bulk purchase to end users.
Besides traditional phone carriers, residents of Greene County can also sign up for phone services from VoIP service providers. VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a computer networking technology that enables voice communication over the internet. VoIP sends voice signals as data packets and requires broadband internet access. VoIP phone services are usually cheaper for residents with internet access at home and work. They also fully support video calling and teleconferencing services. For telecommuting and long-distance calls, VoIP phone service offers clear benefits over landline and cell phone services.
What are Greene County Phone Scams?
These are frauds committed using phone tools and services and targeted at residents of Greene County. Telephone frauds involve scammers placing calls and sending SMS messages to their targets while selling them on their phony claims. Some of the phone tools and services used by these scammers are caller ID spoofing, spam calls, robocalls, and phishing. These are used to find new targets and impersonate authority figures convincingly enough to trick unsuspecting residents.
While some phone technologies help scammers run their cons, others make it easier for targets, victims, and law enforcement to find, report, and prosecute scammers as well as avoid phone scams. These enabling phone tools and services include reverse phone number lookup and call blocking.
In addition to safeguarding themselves with these tools, residents of Greene County should also be aware of common scams in their communities. The Attorney General of Ohio identifies the following as the most common phone scams in the state: advance fee, computer repair, credit repair, and job opportunity scams
What are Greene County Advance Fee Phone Scams?
There are different subtypes of these scams but the one common thread is that they all involve victims sending money to strangers claiming to help them get more money. An advance fee scammer may call an unsuspecting resident requiring urgent financial help to promise them access to a loan, government grant, or credit card. They sound helpful on the phone and claim they have helped many access such credits to get out of financial distress. To obtain these credit facilities on behalf of the target, the scammer wants to be paid ahead for their services or other fees they claim are required to process the loan or grant. Once paid, the scammer stops communicating with their victim.
Ohio law enforcement agencies warn residents not to believe anyone asking for money to help them get more money. Legitimate loans, government grants, and credit cards do not require recipients to pay up beforehand. One way to discover an advance fee phone scam is to run a suspicious phone number lookup on the number used by the stranger asking for an advance fee for a loan or grant. This search may show that the number used is not associated with the organization the caller claims to represent. It may also reveal that the number has been previously flagged for phone scams.
What are Greene County Computer Repair Phone Scams?
Also known as tech support scams, these involve fraudsters calling unsuspecting residents and claiming to be tech support representatives of reputable tech companies such as Microsoft and Apple. They inform their victims that their computers are running slowly or infected with viruses. Scammers impersonating Apple customer care may also claim they are calling to help their victims reset their Apple ID or iCloud password. The aim of these scammers is to defraud their victims either by billing for unnecessary repairs or stealing their identity and financial information.
If contacted out of the blue by someone claiming to be tech support or computer repair agent, use a phone number lookup to verify that they are calling from the company they claim to represent. Even if their number looks legitimate, they may be using caller ID spoofing to impersonate a legitimate tech company. Never give remote access to your computing devices to strangers providing unsolicited tech support and click on links forwarded by such callers.
What are Greene County Credit Repair Phone Scams?
These scams involve fraudsters promising residents with bad credits that they can erase their credit records and give them a fresh start. They may also promise to consolidate their debts or lower the interest rates on them. Much like advance fee scams, these scammers charge their victims to provide these services but do nothing or little to improve their credit scores or erase their bankruptcy records. Residents of Greene County should know that promises made by such scammers are unfulfillable. Erasing bad credit and bankruptcy records by creating new identities is illegal. A quick free reverse phone lookup can show that persons making such claims are scammers and do not represent legitimate credit card companies.
What are Greene County Job Opportunity Phone Scams?
Job opportunity scams target a different group of residents in dire need. These target those that have lost their jobs and looking for immediate work opportunities. Scammers call such job seekers and charge them increasingly high fees for information about new job vacancies, networking opportunities, and training sessions. Even when these are provided, they end up useless and do not help the victims get job placements. In some cases, the scammers find low-paying jobs for their victims and get rude on the phone when victims complain about these opportunities.
Before signing up for a recruitment firm or service charging fees, make sure to research them online. A phone number lookup can also help you determine if a caller offering attractive job opportunities is affiliated with the recruitment company handling the hiring process. To avoid getting scammed by fraudsters, only use the services of reputable recruitment firms or apply for jobs directly from the official websites of the organizations with open positions.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are unwanted calls placed by auto-dialers sending out pre-recorded messages to many phone users. Spam calls are also unwanted and unsolicited calls placed in bulk to large groups. However, spam calls may be placed by actual persons dialing a long list of numbers. Robocalls require very little human effort after setting them up. They are cost-effective means of reaching large audiences and are commonly used by political groups, telemarketers, and organizations delivering public service announcements.
Scammers find robocalls and spam calls useful for the same reasons telemarketers use them. They help cast a wide net for potential victims and cost little so every false lead is not expensive. These are the reasons why the number of unsolicited calls received by Greene County residents keep increasing every year. Those wishing to stop or reduce the volume of robocalls and spam calls received should consider the following tips:
- Do not rely on your phone’s caller ID to correctly identify a robocall or spam call. Fraudsters and dishonest telemarketers use caller ID spoofing to impersonating persons and organizations their targets trust
- Hang up on a call as soon as you realize it is a robocall or spam call
- Do not follow instructions given during a robocall or spam call on how to remove your number from their call lists. Following such prompts only sends more of these unwanted calls your way
- Use reverse phone number lookup services to identify unknown callers. This step is useful for determining whether a repeat caller is a scammer and when reporting scammers, spammers, and stalkers to the authority
- Install a call blocking app on your phone. There are third-party apps that offer this feature and rely on blacklists maintained by their users. Smartphones also have built-in call blocking features. Set up yours to block calls from unknown numbers or certain numbers. Phone users can also sign up for call blocking features from their carriers
- Add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry. This will stop calls from legitimate telemarketers. You can consider any robocall received 31 days after joining this registry as a scam or spam call
How to Spot and Report Greene County Phone Scams
While it may seem like scammers introduce new cons, these are usually variations of the same old tricks taking advantage of new technologies. Even then, it is important to be wary and keep learning about new phone scam tactics. The Office of the Attorney General provides a number of helpful resources on consumer scams and phone scams. Tools like call blocking and reverse phone lookup are also useful for avoiding phone scams.
No one in Greene County should believe they can never be a victim of phone scam. To identify scammers, look out for the following red flags:
- Asking for payment via unofficial channels - scammers impersonating government agencies, tax agencies, utility companies, law enforcement and financial houses should not be request payment by cash, wire transfer, prepaid debit card, gift card, Venmo transfer, and cryptocurrency
- Using threat to obtain compliance - in impostor scams, fraudsters often threaten their targets with immediate arrest, jail, deportation, and revocation of license to get them to pay for claimed back taxes, overdue bills, and other similar repayments
- Speaking with bad English or in a foreign accent - most scammers targeting Americans live in foreign companies where English is not the first language
- Requesting for information they should already have - it is a red flag is someone claiming to represent the IRS, your bank, or credit card company is asking for your social security number or other confidential financial records they already have on file
- Employing pressure tactics to get immediate commitment - scammers selling bogus investment and business opportunities often get their victims to fear they will be missing out on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities by claiming their attractive offers are time-limited
Authorities encourage Greene County residents to report phone scams whether these frauds are successful or not. Such reports help law enforcement and consumer protection agencies find and prosecute scammers. They also help them properly inform the public about what to look out for to avoid scams.
Residents of Greene County can report phone scams to the following agencies:
- The Office of the Attorney General of Ohio - Residents can report illegal robocalls and file consumer complaints from the website of the chief law enforcement official of the state. They can also call this office at (800) 282-0515 to report phone scams. Find a full list of links to report scams in the state on the Attorney General’s Help Center webpage.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - The FCC oversees all forms of communication in the country. It can process and prosecute scams involving illegal robocalls, caller ID spoofing, phishing, and spam calls. Report such telephone frauds to the FCC’s Consumer Complaint Center
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - The FTC is responsible for protecting American citizens against unfair and deceptive business practices. It accepts consumer complaints about scams involving dubious investment, business, job opportunity, and credit/loan/grant claims. Residents can submit complaints about these scams on the FTC fraud complaint webpage
- The Greene County Sheriff’s Office and police departments in the county - these local law enforcement agencies also receive reports of phone scams. Call to report a phone fraud to the Sheriff’s Office by dialing (937) 376-5111