What are Chautauqua County Area Codes?
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator was set up in 1940, with the primary mission of unifying all telephone numbering plans into the North American Number Plan. The NANPA is responsible for managing and allocating area codes in North America. The NANP divides North America into numbering plan areas. These numbering plan areas are then assigned unique three-digit number prefixes known as area codes. The New York State Public Service Commission is responsible for all telecommunication concerns in the State.
Area Code 716
Area code 716 is the only area code that serves Chautauqua County. The area code 716 was officially brought into service on the 1st of January 1947. The area code 716 has been split twice to form the area code 607 in 1954 and the area code 585 in 2001. The area code serves the westernmost part of the state and includes towns and cities like Jamestown and Dunkirk.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Chautauqua County?
Verizon and AT&T are the two major wireless service providers in Chautauqua County. Verizon has the widest wireless service coverage in the county with 100%. AT&T, on the other hand, covers only 60% of the county. The presence of numerous Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Chautauqua county helps ensure sufficient wireless coverage in the county. The MVNOs provide wireless phone services to their subscribers by leveraging the availability of major wireless phone service providers in the state.
Data obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics Survey conducted in 2018 revealed that both adults and minors in the state preferred wireless phone services to traditional landlines. The survey revealed that 38.8% of adults in the State of New York exclusively used wireless phone services, and only 6% of adults in the state exclusively used traditional landlines. It was also revealed that 24.2% of adults in the State of New York used a combination of wireless phone services and traditional landlines. Likewise, 45.9% of the minors in the state exclusively used wireless phone services and 2.9% used only traditional landlines. Also, 19% of minors in the State of New York used a combination of wireless phone services and traditional landlines.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a wireless telecommunication technology that uses internet broadband connections to make phone calls. It operates by converting voice into digital signals, making it possible to make telephone calls over the internet. VoIP has rapidly gained acceptance amongst Chautauqua County residents as it offers a cheaper, more flexible, and more reliable means of communications for residents and businesses in the county.
What are Chautauqua County Phone Scams?
These are ploys by dubious individuals who use telephones and other telephony products to deceive Chautauqua County residents. These dubious individuals attempt to acquire personal information, financial information, or money from county residents. To guarantee the success of their ploys, they take on different identities to gain residents’ trust. They also spoof caller IDs to mask their phone numbers. Residents need to be alert and informed of the methods used by these scammers. They can also use free reverse phone number lookup services to uncover masked caller IDs.
What are Chautauqua County COVID-19 Scams?
These scams take advantage of the fears and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud Chautauqua County residents. Fraudsters use caller ID spoofing to commit these scams, making their calls appear to be from the New York Health and Human Services Office or other related government agencies. Variants of COVID-19 scams are the COVID-19 contact tracing scam, the COVID-19 relief payment scam, and the COVID-19 test and Medicaid scam.
In the COVID-19 contact tracing scam, the fraudster calls a resident of Chautauqua County and claims to be a Department of Health and Human Services staff, tasked with contact tracing. The fraudster's goal is to obtain the resident's personal information. During the call, the fraudster claims that the Chautauqua County resident was exposed to a person that was infected with the COVID-19 virus. The fraudster then proceeds to tell the resident to quarantine to prevent the spread of the virus. The fraudster also requests the resident's personal information such as their social security number, phone number, and address.
In the COVID-19 test and Medicaid scam, the fraudster impersonates a New York Health and Human Services Office staff. The fraudster offers a fake COVID-19 test to the recipient. This scam aims to get the Chautauqua County resident's personal information, which the fraudster may later use to perpetrate an identity theft scam.
In the COVID-19 relief payment scam, the fraudster takes advantage of the ongoing relief payment being offered by the government. The fraudster calls a Chautauqua County resident claiming to be calling from a government agency. The fraudster then proceeds to request the victim's bank account details under the guise that it will be used to make COVID-19 relief payments directly into the victim's bank account.
Residents should ignore such calls because to receive the promised stimulus payments; they do not need to take any action. The payments would be made directly into their bank accounts on file with the IRS, or the cheque will be mailed directly to them.
What are Chautauqua County Social Security Scams?
In social security scams, the fraudsters’ objective is to get Chautauqua County residents to compromise their social security numbers. The fraudsters use caller ID spoofing to copy the legitimate Social Security Administration’s caller ID. They then call county residents, informing them that their social security numbers have been used to open bank accounts that are under investigation for fraud. The fraudsters then request payment in the form of a cash drop-off, MoneyGram, prepaid debit cards, or cash app transfers to expedite the process and have their social security numbers restored.
County residents should never make any payments over the phone to any government agency. They also need to use services like reverse phone lookup to uncover the identity of callers to know who called.
What are Chautauqua County SNAP Benefits Scams?
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits scam targets, low-income earners in Chautauqua County. The objective of the scam is to steal the personal information of county residents. In the SNAP benefits scam, the fraudster sends a text message to a Chautauqua County resident. The fraudster uses a bulk SMS service to send out the message, enabling them to determine how the message appears on the resident's phone. The fraudster uses a sender's name that is similar to a United States Department of Agriculture or the Chautauqua Sheriff’s Office to deceive residents. The text message will inform the resident that they are qualified for the SNAP benefit or food stamp. The message also requests that the recipients share their social security number, PIN, or bank information to access the SNAP benefits.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls refer to automated calls that are sent out en masse. Robocalls use computerized auto-dialers to deliver pre-recorded messages. There are legal and illegal robocalls. Legal robocalls include all robocalls that are made in line with the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The act seeks to protect the interests of all telephone subscribers. The FTC, however, grants certain bodies the authority to robocall residents of Chautauqua County. Some of these bodies include political parties, polling agencies, and tax-exempt nonprofits organizations. Scam calls, on the other hand, refer to all unsolicited and unwanted calls. Residents should use free phone number lookup services to identify unknown callers.
Fraudsters also leverage robocalls to commit their scams. When faced with illegal robocalls, the best options are to:
- Hang up the call as soon as you discover it is a robocall.
- Ignore all prompts asking you to take certain actions to be excluded from the robocall list. These prompts often set you up for more robocalls.
- Contact your telephone service provider to inquire about call blocking options to block all unwanted calls.
- Get your phone number registered online on the National Do Not Call Register.
- Make use of phone number lookup or reverse phone lookup services to uncover the identity of anonymous callers.
The FTC website provides consumer tips for blocking unwanted calls.
How Can You Spot and Report Chautauqua County Phone Scams?
The mode of operation of phone scammers makes it difficult to spot phone scams. Many phone scammers use technologies such as caller ID spoofing to appear as legitimate businesses. Chautauqua County residents must stay alert and educated on the evolution of these phone scams and methods used in committing them. While these scammers’ schemes evolve with time, scam calls generally retain the same key indicators that can be used to identify them. Here are some indicators to look out for:
- Request for payments through unconventional channels. The scammers would often provide alternate payment options that legitimate businesses do not use.
- Extreme sense of urgency on the call to get residents to decide without proper consideration of the facts.
- Unwillingness of the caller to properly clarify information on the subject of the call. This causes the conversation to get aggressive and unfriendly with time.
- Requests for personal or financial information
Several federal, state, and county agencies investigate and prosecute phone scammers in Chautauqua County. Some of these agencies include:
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center - The Internet Crime Complaint Center is a joint task force between the FBI and National White Collar Crime Center. Cases of internet crimes and phone scams can be reported online to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.
The New York State Attorney General’s Office - The Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection of the New York State Attorney General’s Office receives fraud complaints online. They also investigate and prosecute individuals engaged in fraudulent practices. A resident may also file their complaint in person at:
The New York State Attorney General’s Office
28 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10005
Phone: 1 (800) 771-7755
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)- The FCT handles all complaints of phone scams. Victims of phone scams can file complaints to the FTC. These complaints can be made by phone at 1-877-ID-Theft and 1-877-FTC-HELP or online.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - The FCC regulates communications in the United States. They also handle consumer complaints of illegal robocalls and other phone scams online.