What are Jefferson County Area Codes?
Jefferson County area codes specify each telephone service area within the county. Area codes are the first three-digit numbers at the beginning of American Phone numbers and are also known as Numbering Plan Areas (NPAs). They were designed by the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) to facilitate ease of long-distance calls and identify the originating telephone service territories of phone calls. There are two active area codes in Jefferson County. These are the 315 and 680 NPA codes. The New York Department of Public Services (DPS) manages and implements these area codes and others in New York.
Area Code 315
Area code 315 is one of the original 86 area codes created in 1947. It is a New York telephone code in the NANP that initially served central upstate New York. Jefferson County cities and communities under area code 315 include Watertown, Carthage, Clayton, Adams, Philadelphia, and Sackets Harbor. Others are Theresa, Alexandria Bay, Chaumont, Cape Vincent, Antwerp, and La Fargeville.
Area Code 680
Area code 680 is an overlay code for the 315 NPA and was put into service in 2017. It covers Jefferson County and several others in New York. Parts of Jefferson County within area code 680 are Watertown, Natural Bridge, Carthage, and Antwerp.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Jefferson County?
A vast number of Jefferson County residents are gradually embracing wireless telephony services. According to a 2018 CDC survey, an estimated 38.8% of adult New Yorkers adopted wireless-only communication services, while those that still used landline-only services amounted to 6.0%. Likewise, 45.9% of the minors used cell phones solely for telecommunications, while 2.9% relied exclusively on landline-only services.
The four national carriers have a presence in New York with varying degrees of coverage across the communities in Jefferson County. Among the four, AT&T provides the best network spread while the penetration of the other three is not pronounced significantly. For instance, AT&T covers the City of Watertown at a 100% score. However, some Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) also offer telephone services to residents in the county and complement the services provided by AT&T. Although MVNOs depend on the national carriers to deliver network services, their pricing is relatively affordable.
Jefferson County residents who wish to pay lower for telephony services can adopt Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as an alternative to traditional phone services. VoIP routes communications between phone users online real-time over IP networks, such as broadband internet. It supports video calling, voice calling, multimedia messaging, and text messaging for residents who use internet-enabled devices.
What are Jefferson County Phone Scams?
Jefferson County phone scams are deceptive practices that rely on telephone services to steal money and obtain confidential information from unsuspecting residents. Typically, phone scammers conceal their identities and make them appear like veritable entities while preying on targets in a process known as phone spoofing. They often impersonate the representatives of such entities to establish trust with their targets and then fleece them. Jefferson County residents can avoid most phone scams by searching the reverse phone lookup of unknown phone numbers or suspicious Caller IDs in incoming calls.
Many consumer protection agencies are exerting their powers to keep Jefferson County residents safe from phone scammers. They provide phone scam awareness and release scam alerts to keep residents abreast of trending scams. Some of these agencies are:
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- New York State Division of Consumer Protection (DCP)
- Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO)
The most prevalent phone scams in Jefferson County include:
What are Jefferson County Immigration Scams?
Immigration scams target immigrants that are resident in Jefferson County and generally in the United States. In these scams, fraudsters, pretending to be employees of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), call to inform targeted residents of issues with their immigration status. Phone number search applications can help residents uncover their identities and determine if they are with the USCIS. They make up scary scripts to get their targets into complying with their requests. They may claim that targets are being investigated for crimes that may adversely affect their immigration status. In other instances, targets are told some legal matters in their names regarding immigration status. The scammers will then offer to clear their names, however, at a fee. In that process, they try to glean targets' personal information by making a few inquiries from them. They usually threaten that law enforcement already has plans to arrest them but may stop such planned arrests if they make immediate payment. These fraudsters favor payment by gift cards, wire transfers, or prepaid cards.
Many immigrants in Jefferson County have lost money and their identities to immigration scams. The Division of Consumer and Business Education of the FTC warns residents against taking these callers seriously. The USCIS will never solicit money from immigrants or threaten them with arrest for any reason over the phone. If you receive such a call, do not send any money or share confidential information with the caller. Services that offer reverse phone lookup free services can help you retrieve valuable information on who called. For information regarding immigration status, Jefferson County residents can contact the USCIS at (800) 375-5283. If you receive such a call, use services that provide free phone number lookup by name for details associated with the phone number.
What are Jefferson County Grandparent Scams?
In grandparent scams, fraudsters take advantage of the love that elderly Jefferson County residents have for their relatives to extort them. They know that seniors will stop at nothing to ensure the safety and well-being of their loved ones. Generally, the scammers pose as their targets' grandchildren or distant relatives when preying on them. Usually, they call targets to request money and claim that such money is needed to resolve some urgent police matters before they escalate. In other instances, the scammers will say that they were involved in road accidents and need money to pay the hospital bills of the accident victims, claiming to be at fault in such road crashes. They often request immediate action by targets and want them to send money via gift cards, cryptocurrencies, and wire transfers to resolve their emergencies quickly.
If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be your grandchild or relative requesting money to sort out an emergency, be careful not to fall victim to scams. Be wary of sending money to persons who call you with unknown phone numbers irrespective of who they claim they are. You can conduct a reverse phone lookup on the caller's phone number to check; "who is this number registered to?" You can also ask the caller questions that only your grandchild or any other family member can answer correctly to verify their claims. The best thing to do in this situation is to end such a call and contact the person referenced in that phone call directly on their phone numbers to figure out their whereabouts.
What are Jefferson County Utility Bills?
Utility scams are targeted at both residential buildings and commercial premises in Jefferson County. The fraudsters often claim to be with targets' local utility providers to rip them off. They usually accuse marks of having unpaid balances on their utility bills and need them to pay immediately. In many instances, they want such payment concluded while still having the phone conversation. Wire transfers and gift cards are their favorite methods of receiving payments. The scammers employ threats of service disconnection, and in extreme cases, arrests to obtain their targets' prompt compliance. Sometimes, they may spoof marks' Caller IDs to display the phone numbers of their utility providers in a bid to get them to answer their phones and then cheat them. Applications providing reverse phone lookup free services can help residents identify spoofed phone calls and avoid scams.
Jefferson County residents should be wary of individuals posing as representatives of their local utility providers. Legitimate employees of utility companies will never request payment via odd channels, especially not in unsolicited calls. Authorities warn residents never to share personal or financial information with unknown persons disguised as employees of local utility companies or pay them. If you get such a call and know that you have some unpaid bills, hang up at once and contact your local utility provider on their verified phone numbers to confirm the unknown caller's claims. You can ignore the threats and claims if your payment is up to date.
What are Jefferson County Distress Phone Call Scams?
Distress phone call scams are usually perpetrated late at night to defraud naive Jefferson County residents. At such times, individuals can find it hard to think straight and may end up as victims of these scams. The scammers pretend to be friends or relatives of their targets when they call. In many cases, the callers will claim to be distressed and appeal that their targets send them money via wire transfers or gift cards to save them from such predicaments. The scammers will stay on the phone to dissuade targets from reaching out to anyone and to ensure payment before releasing the lines.
If you receive such a call, make sure to reach out to someone you can trust for confirmation before sending money because any payment made via gift cards and wire transfers is hard to trace. Unfortunately, many Jefferson County residents have been victims of this scam scheme and lost money. Some even shared their banking information with fraudsters leading to more losses. Applications that provide reverse phone lookup free services can help residents retrieve these scammers' identifying information and prevent them from falling victim to scams.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are automated phone calls that deliver preset messages to mass phone numbers. Such information usually prompts call recipients to take further actions during the phone call. Telemarketers, politicians, and various government agencies use robocalls for legitimate purposes. Robocalls help these entities to disseminate information to mass audiences at a relatively low cost than calling such audiences one after the other. However, scammers also favor robocalls. Robocalls help them stay anonymous and allow them to alter phone numbers at will. Jefferson County residents can identify the persons behind suspicious robocalls using services that provide suspicious phone number lookup. Robocalls are a type of spam call. Spam calls are illegal and usually sent out en masse to random phone numbers for malicious purposes.
The best response to robocalls that can prevent you from falling victim to scams include:
- Use any application that provides phone number search free of charge to establish the source of a call and block the phone number if identified as a robocall or spam number.
- Add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry free of charge. If you still receive robocalls after enlisting your phone number for at least 31 days, those are potential robocall scams.
- Report robocall abuse to the FTC.
- Hang up once you realize a call is a robocall. Keeping the line open will only encourage future robocalls.
How Can You Spot and Report Jefferson County Phone Scams?
The best way to avoid falling victim to phone scams is to acquire the necessary education on how phone scams operate. The warning signs of phone scams you should look out for in Jefferson County include:
- The caller wants you to make payment immediately. Only phone scammers operate in this manner.
- The caller claims to be your relative and requests money to resolve emergencies. Do not be pressured into sending money to such callers without confirming their whereabouts from other family members.
- The caller requests payment via odd channels such as gift cards, cash, or wire transfer. Do not pay anyone who insists on receiving payments on these channels because transactions completed through them are hard to trace and recover.
- The caller identifies themselves as an employee of a government agency but threatens you with arrest for hesitating to share confidential information or send money. Legitimate employees of government agencies will never threaten residents with arrest over the phone.
Searching suspicious phone numbers using reverse phone number lookup services can also help you identify and avoid phone scams. Some government agencies sensitize Jefferson County residents on phone scams and encourage victims to file reports of phone scam incidents. These agencies include:
New York State Division of Consumer Protection - Jefferson County residents who are phone scam victims can file complaints online with the DCP. The DCP educates residents on the various schemes and provides consumer alerts to keep residents informed of the current scams.
Federal Trade Commission - Jefferson County residence can file phone scam reports with the FTC online or call 1 (888) 382-1222. They can avoid robocall scams by joining the FTC's DNC Registry.
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office - The JCSO investigates reported phone scam incidents in Jefferson County. Residents can file reports of phone scam cases with the JCSO on (315) 785-3000. Alternatively, they can visit the agency to file in-person complaints at 175 Arsenal Street, Watertown, NY 13601.
Federal Communications Commission - Jefferson County residents can file reports of phone scams online with the FCC. The FCC provides information to residents on how to avoid phone scams.