What are Cumberland County Area Codes?
Two area codes serve the communities that make up Cumberland County. These are area codes 609 and 856. Area codes are three-digit numeric designations for numbering plan areas (NPAs). They were introduced with the creation of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in 1947. The NANP divided North American municipalities into NPAs. Some NPAs and area codes cover entire states while some only cover parts of counties. The introduction of the NANP improved the efficiency of North American telephone exchanges and made call routing easier. The first three digits in a 10-digit US phone number represents the area code or the NPA where the number was assigned.
Area Code 609
Area code 609 covers the central and southeastern parts of New Jersey. It was created in 1958 from the split of area code 201, the very first area code to be assigned in the US under the NANP. It was projected to be exhausted in 2017 and overlaid by area code 640. Communities in Cumberland served by area code 609 include Delmont, Bridgeton, Vineland, and Millville.
Area Code 856
Area code 856 is assigned to cities and counties in the southwestern part of New Jersey. It was created from a split of area code 609 in 1999. Communities in Cumberland County covered by area code 856 include Fortescu, Newport, and Dividing Creek, all making up Deerfield Township. Parts of Bridgeton, Vineland, and Millville also fall under the 856 NPA.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Cumberland County?
Less than half of New Jersey residents have abandoned landline phones for wireless phones. Most of the residents of the state use both landline and wireless phone services. This was one of the conclusions of a 2018 wireless substitution survey conducted by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The results of the survey showed that 38.1% of the adult residents of the state solely relied on wireless phones for telecommunication while 4.9% of them still used landline phones exclusively. The divide between wireless-only and landline-only phone users in New Jersey was wider among residents under the age of 18. In that demographic, 41.5% of minors indicated they only use wireless phones while 3.2% of them confirmed that they used landline phones exclusively.
All of the major national carriers and some regional carriers offer cell phone plans to residents of Cumberland County, and the rest of New Jersey. Among these phone service providers, AT&T leads with 100% coverage of the state. T-Mobile and Verizon cover 97.9% and 97.5% of the state respectively while Sprint has 96% of New Jersey covered. Regional carriers, or MVNOs, are smaller phone service providers that rely on the network infrastructure of major operators. They buy network services in bulk from major carriers and repackage them in cell phone plans meant to attract those living in the areas they serve. Phone plans from MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) are usually cheaper because they pass on some of the savings from their bulk purchase of network services to their subscribers.
Residents of Cumberland County can also sign up for phone services provided by VoIP operators in the state. VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a communication technology that transmits voice signals as data packets over the internet. VoIP phone services rely on fast internet access and are cost-effective for residents and businesses in Cumberland County with broadband internet access. VoIP phone services are also more flexible and convenient than landline and cell phone services. Users can make VoIP calls from their phones, computers, tablets, and other internet-connected communication devices.
What are Cumberland County Phone Scams?
These are telephone frauds committed in Cumberland County or targeting those living there. Fraudsters running phone scams aim to defraud their victims or steal confidential information to use for identity theft. These scammers find targets for their fraudulent schemes with robocalls and spam calls and may employ caller ID spoofing and voice phishing to impersonate loved ones and authority figures to get victims to trust them.
Therefore, Cumberland County residents must be wary of strangers on the phone and learn to use call blocking and reverse phone number lookup to avoid phone scams and identify scammers. It is also important that they learn about prevalent telephone frauds in their communities and keep abreast of phone scam trends. The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs identifies the following as the most common scams in the state: IRS scams, grandparent scams, computer repair scams, and lottery scams.
What are Cumberland County IRS Scams?
These scams with fraudsters calling unsuspecting residents and claiming to be from the IRS. While these telephone frauds are most common during the annual tax season, they have been reported during other times of the year. Fraudsters claiming to be IRS agents ask their victims to pay for owed taxes or risk bad consequences. Another variation of this scam involves the scammer claiming their target qualifies for tax refund and requesting confidential information to confirm their identity.
Whether seeking to defraud victims or steal their personal information, IRS scams are easy to spot. Cumberland County residents must understand how the IRS works to see through the lies of scammers pretending to work for this agency. The IRS does not initiate contact by phone. Rather, they send mail correspondence and only call when pre-arranged with taxpayers. To confirm the identity of a strange caller claiming to work with the IRS, search their phone number using a reverse phone lookup. However, IRS scammers are likely to use caller ID spoofing to hide their numbers and appear on their victims’ phones as the IRS.
What are Cumberland County Grandparent Scams?
Also called emergency scams, these scams exploit the readiness of their victims to help their loved ones. In grandparent scams, fraudsters pretend to be grandchildren of their victims and call to ask for immediate financial help to meet their emergency needs. They may claim to need the money to get out of foreign countries where they are stranded, to pay hospital bills after being in accidents, or to get out of jail. Fraudsters can also impersonate friends of their victims’ loved ones or claim to be their lawyers or helpful law enforcement officers.
The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs warns residents not to send money to strangers claiming to be old friends or distant family members. They should call the loved ones in distress directly from the numbers they have saved on their phones. They should also contact other family members to corroborate the callers’ claims even if they were asked to keep their requests a secret from others. A free reverse phone number lookup can also help out a phone scammer pretending to be a loved one. This search will show that the caller is not who they claim they are, where they claim to need emergency help, or that the number used has been reported for similar scams.
What are Cumberland County Computer Repair Scams?
Fraudsters running these scams impersonate employees of reputable tech companies when calling their victims to alarm them about viruses on their computers or the need for some urgent fixes. These scammers request remote access to their victims’ machines to repair them. Once granted access, they may install malware on their victims computers to steal confidential records such as account passwords and banking details. They may also sneak spyware into their victims’ computers to keep spying on them. Some scammers install ransomware on their victims’ computers and lock them out of their machines. These fraudsters ask for ransoms before giving their victims access to their computers.
Residents of Cumberland County should know that tech companies do not scan their customers’ computers for viruses or make unrequested calls offering tech support services. Anyone calling to offer computer repair services is most likely a fraudster. You can identify who called by running their phone number through a suspicious phone number lookup. Cumberland County residents should know that they must never grant strangers remote access to their computers. Rather, they should rely on local computer repair shops to fix their computers.
What are Cumberland County Lottery Scams?
Lottery and sweepstakes scams usually start with robocalls to unsuspecting residents congratulating them on winning the lottery or some other free prize. For residents that take the bait, scammers then ask them to send some money to cover taxes and other processing fees before releasing their prizes and winnings. Legitimate lottery and sweepstakes organizers do not ask winners to pay anything before claiming their winnings. Such requests are illegal.
Fraudsters running lottery scams usually claim to represent Publishers Clearing House. Ask a strange caller claiming to be a representative of a lottery/sweepstakes organizer to verify their identity. Do so too with a phone number lookup search. Scammers also usually claim their victims won out-of-state and foreign lotteries because these are harder to verify. Make sure to search online for information about such lotteries and call the organizers to confirm the caller’s claims.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
These are unwanted and unsolicited bulk calls placed to large groups of phone users. Robocalls are automated phone calls that deliver pre-recorded messages while spam calls are mostly placed by human agents reading from prepared sales scripts. While there are a lot of legitimate organizations using robocalls as mass communication tools to contact prospective and current customers and members, most of the robocalls received by phone users are from scammers and spammers.
With the ever-growing number of robocalls and spam calls received by American phone users, government agencies and telephone companies are stepping up efforts to curb these unwanted calls. In the meantime, residents of Cumberland County can take the following steps to stop or reduce the number of robocalls and spam calls they receive:
- Let calls from unknown numbers go to voicemail. Review the messages left and determine which ones you wish to return
- Do not trust your phone’s caller ID function to correctly identify unknown callers. Scammers routinely use caller ID spoofing to trick this phone function
- Hang up a call as soon as you discover it is a robocall or spam call. If you stay on longer and are given instructions on how to stop receiving further calls, do not follow these prompts. Scammers and spammers use them to confirm active lines and target those even more
- Use the call filtering feature on your phone to block calls from certain numbers or all unknown numbers. Ask your carrier if they offer call blocking and sign up for that if it does not significantly increase your phone bill. There are third-party apps that also offer call blocking features and rely on user-generated blacklists to block calls from flagged numbers
- Register your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. Legitimate telemarketers stop calling numbers added to this list. Robocalls and spam calls received 31 days after joining this registry can be reported to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- Find a reverse phone number lookup service to investigate unknown callers by their phone numbers. This can help identify and unmask scammers, spammers, and stalkers calling your phone
How to Spot and Report Cumberland County Phone Scams?
While it is important that Cumberland County residents know the most common phone scams in their communities, they also need to learn how to recognize phone scams. When talking to strangers on the phone, be on the lookout for these signs of telephone fraud:
- Threats - scammers impersonating authority figures are quick to threaten their victims to get them to send money or release their personal records. They usually threaten their targets with arrest, prosecution, deportation, bad credit ratings, or revocation of their driver’s, professional, or business licenses
- Request for payments via unofficial channels - government and law enforcement agencies, utility companies, the IRS, debt collectors, charities, and reputable businesses do not request payment by cash, prepaid debit card, gift card, wire transfer, mobile app transfer, or cryptocurrency
- Aggressive sales tactics - scammers selling bogus business and investment offers give their victims very little time to consider their offers. They claim their high-yield, no-risk offers are only available for a limited time or offer even steeper discounts if their targets will sign up immediately
- Refusal to provide written documentation backing their claims - when asked, scammers cannot provide documents supporting their claims or confirming their identities
If one or more of these signs lets you suspect a strange caller, investigate them further by running a phone number search. After spotting a phone scam, report it immediately to the appropriate authorities. Such reports are useful for finding, apprehending, and prosecuting fraudsters. They also increase public awareness of tactics used by phone scammers. Residents of Cumberland County can report telephone frauds to the following agencies:
- The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) - this is the state’s consumer protection agency. It prosecutes individuals and organizations violating the state’s many consumer protection laws. Residents of Cumberland County can file consumer scam complaints with the DCA online
- The Treasury Inspector General Administration (TIGTA) - the IRS directs taxpayers to report all IRS scams to the TIGTA. This agency goes after fraudsters impersonating employees of the IRS and encourages those targeted by these fraudsters to report the IRS impersonation scams online
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - the FTC is the federal consumer protection agency and its responsibilities include protecting Americans from unfair and deceptive business practices. Residents of Cumberland County can report consumer scams to the FTC by calling (877) 382-4357 or submitting their fraud complaints online
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - the FCC regulates all communication in the country and prosecutes those that knowingly misuse telecommunication tools and services with the intent to defraud phone users. The FCC accepts reports of illegal robocalls, spam calls, caller ID spoofing, and phishing. Residents can also report phone scams perpetrated using these tools to the FCC’s Consumer Complaint Center