What are Bergen County Area Codes?
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) assigns strings of three-digit codes, known as area codes, to telephone service areas in the country. Area codes identify the Numbering Plan Areas (NPAs) in different parts of the country. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) administers area codes in New Jersey, including Bergen County.
Currently, Bergen County has two active area codes. These are:
Area Code 201
Created in 1947, area code 201 covers Bergen and Hudson counties. Locations served by this area code in Bergen County include Cliffside Park, Englewood, Fair Lawn, Hackensack, Ridgewood, and Teaneck.
Area Code 551
Area code 551 was created as an overlay of the 201 NPA in 2001. It covers the same locations as area code 201.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Bergen County?
Cell phones are increasingly displacing landlines in Bergen County households. A 2018 NHIS report confirmed the shift towards wireless services in New Jersey. According to the report, 38.1% of the adult population exclusively used cell phones while 4.9% of them used only landlines. The same report revealed that 41.5% of minors under 18 years, exclusively used wireless-only telephony services. Only 3.2% of the child population still relied on landlines alone for telecommunications, according to the survey.
Cell phone carriers in Bergen County offer different levels of network coverage. Residents in the urban areas of the county enjoy better phone services than those in rural locations. The major four telephone carriers (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint) are present in the City of Hackensack and provide excellent coverage. T-Mobile offers 96% coverage while Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint cover 92%, 82%, and 78% of the county, respectively.
Widespread internet access has made VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) an attractive alternative to landline and cellular phone services in Bergen County. Businesses and residents using VoIP services enjoy lower rates and more convenient services with this option.
What are Bergen County Phone Scams?
Phone scams are fraudulent activities perpetrated using phone services. Phone scammers aim to extort money and sensitive information from unsuspecting targets. Many phone scammers use scare tactics while some appear as willing to help. A reverse phone lookup is a proven way of identifying callers with unknown phone numbers. It can also help Bergen County residents avoid phone scams. Residents who fall victim to phone scams in Bergen County can report to the Bergen County Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) by calling (201) 336-6400. The FTC can also be notified online of phone scammers' activities. The prevalent phone scams in Bergen County include:
What are Social Security Scams?
The Social Security Administration (SSA) warns residents to beware of phone scammers pretending to be their employees. These scammers extort unsuspecting individuals in the agency's name. Social security scammers will inform targets that illegal activities were observed on their SSNs and state that the police had issued arrest warrants for them. To help rectify the issue, they request for money and the targets’ full SSNs. This is all a ploy to steal their money and identities.
Bergen County residents should know that the SSA does not threaten residents, ask for payments or personal information over the phone. Anyone who receives this type of call can find out who called by using a reverse phone number lookup service. Social security scams can be reported online to the Office of the Inspector General, SSA.
What are Jury Duty Phone Scams?
Do not give out money or disclose your personal information to anyone who calls you and claims that you failed to appear for jury duty. The Bergen County Superior Court Jury Management Office typically notifies anyone who misses jury duty by mail. The notification comes with information on who to call and how to comply with the summons. In jury duty scams, scammers impersonate the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office deputies and threaten residents with arrest for not showing up for jury duty. They then request money through wire transfers or gift cards to cancel the already issued arrest warrants. The Sheriff's Department will never threaten residents nor solicit payments over the phone. Residents can notify the Bergen County Sheriff's Office of scammers who try to rip them off with jury duty scams by calling (201) 646-2222.
What are IRS Phone Scams?
In these scams, con artists usually spoof phone numbers and pretend to be the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) employees when contacting their targets. There are different variations to the scams. The most-reported version in Bergen County involves scammers leaving voicemail messages for targets and claiming there are problems with their tax accounts. The voice messages include warnings that their targets should return the calls immediately.
If contacted in this way, try running the caller's number through an application that offers free phone lookup services to uncover information on their identity. Do not return the call. Rather contact the IRS directly. Residents who have fallen victim to this scam reported that they were threatened with arrests and had to pay some money and disclose personal information. IRS scammers’ preferred means of receiving payments are wire transfers and prepaid cards. The IRS warns residents not to divulge sensitive information to anyone who claims to work for the IRS and then threatens them. The IRS never contacts anyone in that manner nor requests payments over the phone. Report tax-related phone scams by filing complaints online with TIGTA or calling 1 (800) 366-4484. IRS scam victims can also report their encounters to the FTC by calling 1 (888) 382-1222.
What are Loan Scams?
Con artists that indulge in loan scams often impersonate legitimate lenders to fool targets into parting with money and financial information. They start by sending text messages to targets, advertising credit facilities with low-interest rates, and providing phone numbers to call. On such calls, the scammers inquire about their targets’ personal and financial information. At the end of their conversations, they promise to offer targets the loans they need. Application forms are then sent via email to targets for them to complete.
These forms usually contain sections for credit card information, SSN, bank account numbers, phone numbers, names, and addresses. Also, targets will be told to pay non-refundable application fees via wire transfers. In the end, victims would have disclosed sensitive information and lost money but will never get the loans they applied for. Bergen County residents who may have fallen victim to this scam can file reports with the BCOCP by calling (201) 336-6400. Alternatively, they can use the FTC’s complaint assistant to file their complaints.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are auto-dialed phone calls that disseminate pre-recorded information to multiple phone users in a short amount of time. Bergen County residents receive robocalls daily from legitimate companies and con artists who specialize in scamming people with autodialers. You can discern if an automated call is a robocall using a reverse phone number lookup service. This will help avoid falling for robocall scams and losing money and sensitive information to perpetrators of these scams. The FTC also educates residents on how to block unwanted calls.
Do the following to avoid a potential phone scam if you receive a robocall:
- Hang up the phone immediately. Do not follow any of the instructions, even if it says you should hit a particular button to stop getting such calls.
- Use a search engine that performs a free reverse phone search to verify the robocall.
- Block the phone number used for the robocall with call-blocking applications offered by your phone carrier. Also, high-end telephone models all have call-blocking features that can identify and block incoming spam calls.
- To reduce the number of unwanted calls, enroll your phone number on the Do Not Call Registry managed by the FTC. Legitimate telemarketers have to stop robocalling you if you are on the list. This makes it easier to identify an illegal spam call when one comes through to your phone.
- Report the robocall number to the FTC by calling 1 (888) 382-1222.
How Can You Spot and Report Bergen County Phone Scams?
It is difficult to trace phone scammers once they are gone. Hence Bergen residents must educate themselves and act proactively to avoid phone scams. Many government agencies provide scam alerts and information on their websites to keep residents abreast of the latest phone scams and how to avoid them. Performing reverse phone number lookups on unknown numbers can help to avoid phone scams. The warning signs of a phone scam include:
- Someone who calls from the IRS and claims that you owe money that must be paid immediately is a scammer. The IRS will never request payments over the phone.
- Scammers will ask you to send them money via wire transfers, gift cards, or bitcoin. Financial transactions done via these channels are hard to track and reverse.
- An unknown caller who gives you inconsistent information during a phone call is a potential scammer. Look out for details that do not match when having phone conversations.
- Persons who pretend to be employees of government agencies and ask you for information the agencies should already have are phone scammers. Government agencies will never request information they have on unsolicited calls.
- Persons claiming to be law enforcement agents who threaten you with arrest warrants but offer to cancel the warrants if you pay them are scammers. Law enforcement agents do not request payments nor threaten residents over the phone.
Bergen County residents can educate themselves with the information provided on consumer protection agencies' websites to prevent phone scams. It is the best way to combat phone scams within the county. These agencies also have scam reporting channels for residents who fall victim to scammer's deceptions. They include:
Bergen County Office of Consumer Protection - The BCOCP is responsible for enforcing the Consumer Fraud Act in Bergen County. It educates and protects residents from becoming victims of fraudulent practices. Residents who believe they may have fallen victim to phone scams can report to the BCOCP by calling (201) 336-6400.
Federal Trade Commission - The National Do Not Call Registry was developed by the FTC for residents who want to opt-out from receiving unsolicited calls. It is one of the many ways the FTC protects residents from falling victim to phone scams. If you fall victim to a robocall or other phone scams, report to the FTC by calling 1 (888) 382-1222 or file a complaint online with them.
Bergen County Sheriff's Office - The BCSO educates residents on all public safety issues, including phone scams. They are also responsible for investigating incidents of scams within the county. Persons who believe they may have fallen victim to phone scams in Bergen County can report to the BCSO by calling (201) 646-2222.
Internal Revenue Services - The IRS provides scam alerts for taxpayers' perusal to prevent them from falling victim to tax-related scams. Taxpayers who believe they may have been victims to IRS phone scams can file complaints with TIGTA. They can also report to the IRS by calling 1 (800) 366-4484.