What are Trumbull County Area Codes?
Area codes are numeric codes established by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) to ease telecommunications. They organize the NANPA territories into Numbering Plan Areas (NPAs). Area codes are the three-digit numbers at the beginning of North American phone numbers. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) maintains Ohio area codes, including Trumbull County. The three area codes covering Trumbull County are:
Area Code 330
Area code 330 is a telephone area code that serves northeastern Ohio. It was created in 1996 from a split of the 216 NPA. Cities and towns in Trumbull County within area code 330 include Warren, Bristolville, Brookfield, Cortland, Girard, Hartford, Hubbard, Kinsman, Mc Donald, Newton Falls, Niles, Southington, and Vienna.
Area Code 234
Area Code 234 is an overlay code for the 330 NPA serving Trumbull County and some parts of other neighboring counties. Cities and communities in Trumbull County under the 234 NPA include Warren, Cortland, Girard, and Southington.
Area Code 440
Area code 440 is an Ohio telephone code that was split from the 216 NPA in 1997. It serves Trumbull County and some other parts of Ohio. Cities in Trumbull County within the 440 NPA include Mesopotamia and West Farmington.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Trumbull County?
The major phone carriers offer network coverage in Trumbull County. T-Mobile tops the chart in the City of Warren, covering 96% of the city. AT&T comes second with an 86% coverage score, trailed by Verizon, which covers 78% of the Warren. Sprint provides the least network spread at 74%. Some Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) also provide network services in Trumbull County and are more affordable alternatives to the major carriers.
Data from a 2018 National Centre for Health Statistics survey for Ohio revealed that cell phones are now the mainstay for telecommunication among the residents. The survey showed that 58.5% of Ohian adults favored cell phone usage over landlines. In contrast, only 4.3% still used landlines. The preference for wireless phones was more pronounced among the under-18 population, as 71.8% had cell phones, while only 2% still used landlines.
Several companies in Trumbull County offer Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony services at affordable rates. VoIP is a technology that allows phone users to initiate calls from anywhere over IP networks, mainly broadband internet connections. It offers a more flexible and convenient alternative to traditional telephony services.
What are Trumbull County Phone Scams?
These are scams masterminded by individuals who contact Trumbull County residents over the phone to steal money or obtain personal information deceptively. The Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office warns county residents to be vigilant and cautious when answering calls from unverified phone numbers to avoid scams. County residents can protect themselves by installing good reverse phone lookup applications on their devices to help uncover the identities of callers with unknown phone numbers. Public agencies that help to protect county residents and provide them with information about phone scams include:
- Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office
- Ohio Attorney General’s Office (Consumer Protection Section)
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Common committed phone scams in Trumbull County include:
What are Trumbull County Arrest Warrant Scams?
In these scams, callers claiming to be with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office inform targeted Trumbull County residents that there are warrants out for their arrests. The scammers make up bogus scripts to corroborate their claims and demand that their targets pay certain fines immediately to avoid arrests. They may also coerce their victims into divulging confidential information, which they can use in committing identity and financial theft. In reality, employees of the Sheriff’s Office will never solicit money from residents over the phone, nor will they force them to share confidential information. Note that law enforcement will not issue a prior arrest before executing an arrest. These scammers often hide their identities using phone spoofing techniques. Their identities can, however, be uncovered using reverse phone lookup applications. Anyone who gets such calls should hang up without hesitation and call the county Sheriff’s office on their official phone number to file a report.
What are Trumbull County IRS Scams?
Scammers call targeted Trumbull County residents and pretend to be employees of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to demand payment of unpaid taxes. It is prevalent during the tax seasons, and fraudsters leverage on the limited information possessed by taxpayers about the tax system to extort them. They try to steal money or obtain personal information such as social security numbers and threaten their victims with arrests or lawsuits if their demands are not met immediately. The IRS will never threaten any resident or demand payments in unsolicited calls. Residents can use reverse number lookup to verify such callers’ identities and avoid IRS scams. Any resident who gets such calls should hang up immediately and call the IRS on their official phone numbers to verify the callers’ claims. Residents can confirm their tax account information online to know the amount of unpaid taxes if they actually owe. The IRS encourages residents contacted by these scammers to file online complaints with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
What are Trumbull County Banking Scams?
Perpetrators of banking scams usually identify themselves as employees of banks. They often inform Trumbull County residents about suspected fraud on their bank accounts in an attempt to extort them. During the call, the scammers will ask for their marks’ sensitive bank accounts information, including PINs or passwords for supposed verifications. They may also inquire about their personal information. If such details are shared by unsuspecting targets, the scammers will use them to commit identity and financial theft. The callers often spoof their marks’ Caller IDs to make them appear legitimate. Residents can retrieve their identities using free reverse phone lookup applications. Note that genuine bank employees do not request customers’ personal banking information over the phone. If you get such calls, hang up and call your bank directly on their official phone number to substantiate the callers’ claims. You can also inform your bank to stop all unauthorized withdrawals on your account. The FTC provides consumers with online resources on identity theft.
What are Trumbull County Debt Collection Scams?
Scammers call naive Trumbull County residents posing as debt collectors to steal money, personal, or financial information. They often target residents who have past due debts. Legitimate debt collectors, usually hired by creditors, have the responsibility of debt recovery. Scammers, however, take advantage of this to coerce their victims into paying money they do not owe or disclosing confidential information. Scammers who perpetrate debt collection scams are used to withholding certain information from their victims, like the name of their creditors or the exact amount owed. They often threaten their marks with arrests or disclosure of their debts to family members or employers. Their preferred mediums of receiving payments are odd and untraceable. They include gift cards, bitcoins, and wire transfers. If you get a call from an acclaimed debt collector who withholds your creditor’s name or the amount owed, hang up immediately. Contact your original creditor to verify the caller’s claims. You can use a suspicious phone number lookup tool to retrieve identifying information on such a caller.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are calls made by auto dialers to deliver recorded messages, typically for telemarketing, non-profit organizations, and political campaigns. Scammers have, however, adopted robocalls in defrauding unsuspecting targets because it allows them to remain anonymous. Scammers can assume any identity of their choice using spoofed robocalls. A reverse phone number lookup application can determine whether an incoming call is a robocall or not. Spam calls are unwanted calls and convey messages, often pre-recorded, within short periods to random phone numbers. Illegal robocalls are a type of spam call.
Preferred actions to take if you receive unsolicited robocalls include:
- Hang up at once. Do not act on any instruction by the robocall to avoid getting more robocalls.
- Use free reverse phone number lookup applications to identify robocalls and avoid robocall scams.
- File reports of unsolicited robocalls with the FTC online or call 1 (888) 382-1222.
- Register your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. Enrolling in this registry exempts you from getting unwanted telemarketing and spam calls.
- Use call blocking applications to block identified robocall and spam numbers.
How Can You Spot and Report Trumbull County Phone Scams?
Fraudsters continue to adopt newer and more sophisticated methods of extorting Trumbull residents. To stay ahead of their tricks, residents must stay informed and alert when receiving calls from unknown persons. Reverse phone lookup services are proficient in spotting impending scams. Indications of possible scams include:
- Generous offers with irresistible benefits from unknown callers are potential scams. Such callers usually pressure their targets into making immediate decisions, else opportunities will allegedly slip away.
- The caller specifies a method of payment and insists on one out of prepaid gift cards, cryptocurrencies, wire transfers, or other unofficial channels. Funds transferred through these means are typically untraceable and hard to recover.
- The caller sounds hostile and uses scare tactics in an attempt to obtain confidential information from their targets. They threaten fines, arrests, or license suspension if their demands are not met. Legitimate entities will never request such information over the phone unless the customer initiated the call.
- The caller offers a prize and insists that money must be paid upfront to claim such a gift. If it is a prize, you do not have to pay a dime to claim it.
Several public agencies in Trumbull County work tirelessly to protect residents from scammers. These agencies provide information on ways to prevent phone scams and offer phone scams reporting platforms. They include:
- Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office: Trumbull County residents can report phone scam cases to the Sheriff’s Office by calling (330) 675-2508.
- Ohio Attorney General’s Office: Trumbull County residents can file reports of phone scams with the Consumer Protection Section of the Attorney General’s Office.They can do so online or by calling 1 (800) 282-0515. They can also fill out the Consumer Complaint Form and mail it to the Consumer Protection Section, 30 E. Broad St., 14th floor, Columbus, OH 43215-3400.
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Trumbull County residents who are victims of phone scams may file online reports with the FTC or call 1 (877) 382-4357. The FTC encourages residents to enroll their phone numbers in the National Do Not Call Registry to reduce the influx of robocalls.
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC): Trumbull County residents may file complaints of phone spoofing scams and other phone scams online or call 1 (888) 225-5322.