What are Atlantic County Area Codes?
There are three area codes covering Atlantic County. These are area codes 609, 640, and 856. An area code is a three-digit designation describing, and unique to, an NPA (numbering plan area). This code is also the three digits at the beginning of a 10-digit phone number issued in North America. Area codes were instituted following the introduction of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in 1947. They make call routing easier over North American telephone exchanges. An area code can identify where a phone number was issued and may help determine the origin of phone calls placed using that number.
Area Code 609
Area code 609 was put into service in 1959 when it was split from area code 201, the original area code assigned for all of New Jersey in 1947. It currently serves central and southeastern parts of the state. Locations in Atlantic County covered by area code 609 include Atlantic City, Absecon, Brigantine, and Egg Harbor City.
Area Code 640
This is an overlay code for NPA 609. It came into service in September 2017 and expanded the number of available phone numbers to residents of the counties served by area code 609. Area code 640 covers the same Atlantic County cities, towns, and townships as 609.
Area Code 856
Area code 856 is a split code created from NPA 609. It was put into service in 199 and covers the southwestern part of New Jersey. Communities in Atlantic County covered by area code 856 include Egg Harbor Township and Pleasantville.
What are the Best Cell Phone Services in Atlantic County?
According to a National Health Interview Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2018, most residents of New Jersey used both landline and wireless phone services. Among adults in the state, 38.1% used wireless phones exclusively while 4.9% relied solely on landline phones. Among minors in the state, 41.5% were exclusive wireless phone users while 3.2% of this demographic only used landline phones for communication.
All four major carriers in the United States provide phone services in Atlantic County. AT&T has the most extensive network in the state and provides service in 99.9% of New Jersey. T-Mobile follows with 97.9% coverage and Verizon is a close third with 97.5% coverage. Sprint brings up the rear with 96% coverage.
In addition to these four major carriers, there are a number of smaller carriers or MVNOs. Mobile Virtual Network Operators or MVNOs do not build out their own network but rely on the infrastructure of the big carriers to provide service. They purchase phone services in bulk from the major carriers, repackage them into bundles that can better cater to regional needs, and pass some of the savings to phone users.
Traditional carriers are not the only ones providing phone services in Atlantic County. There are also VoIP providers. VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is a communication technology for transmitting voice calls as data packets over the internet. VoIP phone services are, therefore, easier to deploy than landline and cell phone services. They are also more flexible and rely on broadband internet rather than dedicated phone lines.
What are Atlantic County Phone Scams?
Atlantic County phone scams are frauds perpetrated by scammers employing telecommunication services and tools with the intention of stealing money or confidential information from unsuspecting residents of the county. Phone scammers use different tricks to turn targets into victims. These include impersonating authority figures and loved ones, inspiring fear in their targets, and promising free gifts and enticing rewards. They find victims with phone services and tools such as robocalls, caller ID spoofing, and spam calls.
The number of phone scams reported in New Jersey and Atlantic County keeps rising every year. This is partly due to the increasing ease of reaching unsuspecting phone users. Some of the most common phone scams reported in the state and county are grandparent scams, utility scams, IRS scams, lottery scams, and tech support scams.
What are Atlantic County Grandparent Scams?
To run a grandparent scam, the con artist pretends to be a grandchild and asks for financial help. This scam is mostly targeted at elderly residents of the county and preys on familial love. To increase their chances of success, scammers may gather some information about their targets and impersonated loved ones from social media sites. They may also call with muffled voices or spoof caller ID to make their calls appear to be calling from the individuals they are impersonating.
Usually, a scammer employing this con claims to need money for some urgent need. Claimed emergencies include rent payment, hospital bills, arrests, and getting stranded in a foreign country. The scammer pleads that the grandparent not inform others of their predicament out of a false sense of shame. They usually ask for money to be sent by wire transfer and prepaid cards.
New Jersey and Atlantic County law enforcement warn residents not to fall for this common scam and never to send money to individuals claiming to be their grandkids. Rather, they should call those grandkids by the phone numbers they have or contact other family members to corroborate the stories given to them over the phone. If a scammer calls with their real number, it is possible to identify and locate them with a reverse phone lookup search.
What are Atlantic County PSE&G/Utility Scams?
Scammers impersonating employees of Public Service Electric and Gas Company call customers of the utility company to demand for payment of overdue bills. They would threaten to cut off electricity and gas to customers’ homes if they do not promptly pay up. However, scammers ask for payment in cash or prepaid debit cards rather than via the official channel provided by this utility company. Residents of Atlantic County should know that utility companies do not call their customers to threaten them or demand paying overdue bills. These companies usually send notices of overdue bills by mail and must send multiple notices before cutting off service.
If you are contacted by someone claiming to be a bill collector for a utility company, run their phone number through a reverse lookup service to ascertain that they are really representatives of the company. You may also call the utility company directly using the number on the last bill received to confirm the caller’s information. Report all cases of attempted and successful utility scams to local law enforcement.
What are Atlantic County IRS Scams?
An IRS scam is also an impersonation scam. Here, the scammer claims to work for the IRS and calls to collect back taxes or to offer tax refunds. Scammers calling about owed taxes are usually rude and often issuing threats. They threaten their victims with immediate arrest, prosecution, license seizure, and even deportation. They may claim local law enforcement officers are on stand-by or heading to their targets’ homes to arrest them. Victims often quickly accede to scammers’ demands believing they are avoiding arrests.
Scammers calling to offer bogus tax refunds want to steal confidential information. They are usually friendly on the phone and pretend to be helpful. They ask their victims for confidential banking information and Social Security numbers, claiming to need these to process huge refunds. However, they use the information provided to steal their victims’ identities and withdraw money from their accounts.
Like utility companies, the Inland Revenue Service does not initiate contact with taxpayers by phone. They send letters about back taxes and refunds. They also do not ask for payments over the phone and will not ask for information they already possess when processing tax refunds. If contacted by a stranger claiming to be from the IRS, submit the unknown number to a phone lookup service to identify who is calling.
What are Atlantic County Lottery Scams?
Lottery scams exploit victims’ love of free items. Scammers using this tactic call to congratulate unsuspecting residents that they have won lotteries. These are usually out-of-state or even foreign lotteries they never entered. Besides lotteries, this scam can also promise victims free gifts and vacations. To redeem their winnings, scammers demand their targets pay certain fees to cover taxes, release fees, and other made-up expenses. Once they receive these payments, they cut communication with their targets.
One way to out lottery scammers is to run their phone numbers through reverse phone lookup services. Often the numbers used are flagged from previous scams. Furthermore, these are usually personal numbers not associated with the lottery organizations scammers claim to represent.
What are Atlantic County Tech Support Scams?
Scammers pretending to be tech support claim to represent reputable tech companies and call to inform their targets that their computers are running slow or infected with viruses. They promise to fix these computers for small fees and ask victims to download certain programs or grant remote access to their machines. Once they gain access to these computers, scammers install malware to steal passwords and other confidential information from those machines. They may also install adware, ransomware, or some other programs to defraud their victims. In the most benign cases, the scammer simply charges the victim for bogus repairs and fixes.
Tech companies do not call their customers to offer unrequested support. You can use a phone lookup search to identify an unknown caller claiming to be a tech support representative. Under no circumstance should you grant remote access to a stranger to work on your computer or download a program recommended by a strange caller.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are automated phone calls placed by auto-dialers programmed to deliver pre-recorded messages. They were introduced to help legitimate organizations reach a wide audience quickly. Political campaigns and telemarketers use them exactly for this purpose. However, over the last decade, the deluge of robocalls received by American phone users has been overwhelming and keeps growing. The sharp rise in robocall use is mostly due to scammers and deceptive telemarketers discovering their many benefits. Robocalls minimal human involvement and significantly costs little to contact a large number of people.
Spam calls are also bulk phone calls. Like robocalls, they are unwanted and mostly used by fraudsters. While a typical robocall uses machine voice to deliver its recorded message, a spam call may feature a message recorded by an actual person to trick recipients to believe they are actually having a phone conversation.
To reduce the number of robocalls and spam calls reaching your phone, consider doing the following:
- Hang up on a robocall or spam call as soon as you discover a call is one of these
- Disregard prompts to remove your number from a rob callers’ lists. Following these instructions only confirms that your phone number is active and ready to receive more unwanted calls
- Identify and flag phone numbers used for robocalls and spam calls with reverse phone lookup services and applications
- Block unwanted calls on your phone by setting it up to filter out unknown numbers. You may also try call-blocking services provided by your carrier or reputable call-blocking apps
- Sign up and add your number to the National Do Not Call Registry. After 31 days of joining this registry, legitimate telemarketers will stop directing robocalls your way. Any robocall or spam call received after this period is most likely from a scammer or dubious telemarketer
How Do You Spot and Report Atlantic County Phone Scams?
While there is a large number of phone scams out there, they mostly use the same tricks and rely on their targets’ ignorance. Therefore, Atlantic County residents should learn all they can about phone frauds from the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. They should also be wary of strange callers and never trust their phones’ caller ID functions to correctly identify callers.
Some red flags to look out for when taking phone calls from unknown callers include:
- Request for payments via unofficial channels - scammers impersonating legitimate public and private organizations often ask for cash or payment via direct wire transfer, cryptocurrencies, and prepaid cards
- Threats - scammers switch to threats when they sense resistance or hesitation from their targets
- Request for confidential information - an unknown caller requesting for your credit card security code, passwords, or Social Security number is most likely a scammer
- Urgent demand for commitment - scammers want to give their targets very little time to consider their offers to prevent them from thinking clearly about them or asking others for advice
Atlantic County residents targeted by phone scammers should immediately report these instances. Reporting scams can help victims get justice and help others learn about emerging scam tactics. These residents can report phone scams to the following county, state, and federal agencies:
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - The FTC protects consumers from deceptive business practices and prosecutes fraudsters impersonating legitimate businesses. File a fraud complaint with the FTC online
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - The FCC is responsible for policing all communications services in the country. Its roles include preventing and prosecuting phone scams. Report these scams as well as instances of illegal robocalls, caller ID spoofing, and spam calls to the FCC’s Consumer Complaint Center
- The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs - This agency safeguards consumers in the state against deceptive business practices. If you believe you have been scammed by a business, file a complaint online or call 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or (973) 504-6200
- Local law enforcement such as the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office and the Atlantic City Police Department also receive scam complaints. Call (609) 909-7200 to report phone scams to the Sheriff’s Office or any of the numbers listed for Atlantic County police departments