What are Schuylkill County Area Codes?
The area code system was instituted in 1947, and it was called the North American Numbering Plan. An area code is a set of three-digit numbers that appear at the beginning of a ten-digit telephone number. The US is divided into small areas called Numbering Plan Areas, each with a unique three-digit code, the area code. An area code can be used to determine where a call originates from. Residents receiving calls bearing unknown area codes can use area code lookup tools to determine where the calls originated.
Schuylkill County has four active area codes: 570, 272, 717, and 223.
Area Code 570
Area code 570 was assigned in July 1998, and it went into service in December that same year. Area code 570 covers northeastern parts of Pennsylvania, including the following cities and towns: Pittston, White Haven, Tamiment, Wilkes-Barre, Bushkill, and Bloomsburg.
Area Code 272
Area code 272 was created from area code 570 in 2010, and it went into service in 2013. Area code 272 serves Pottsville, Stroudsburg, Williamsport, Scranton, Lock Haven, Schuylkill Haven, and Northumberland.
Area Code 223
Area code 223 was assigned on October 28, 2016. It became active on September 26, 2017. The code covers Lebanon, Lancaster, and Dauphin.
Area Code 717
Area code 717 went into service on January 1, 1947. The area code covers Lancaster, Loysville, Millerstown, and Ephrata.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Schuylkill County?
In Schuylkill County, AT&T has the widest coverage, with 92%. Verizon follows closely with wide network coverage of 89%. T-mobile and Sprint have 77% and 68% coverage, respectively.
According to a survey carried out by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in 2018, 43.4% of adults in Pennsylvania used only wireless telephones, while 4.3% used only landlines. However, the data reveals that 52.5% of Pennsylvania minors only used wireless telephones, while 2.3% only used landlines.
In Schuylkill County, residents are beginning to opt for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services instead of the regular traditional services. VoIP is a technology that is used to make calls over the internet. Fraudsters also exploit VoIP to perpetrate their schemes, thereby stealing phone users’ money, identities, and financial information.
What are Schuylkill County Phone Scams?
Schuylkill County phone scams are on the increase with each passing day. Schuylkill County phone scams are fraudulent activities carried out by fraudsters via phone calls. Scammers target unsuspecting victims to steal money and illegally obtain private information of Schuylkill County residents. Often, these fraudsters pose as legal authorities or relatives of the targets in order to disarm them. They make them feel at ease until they part with their money or personal information.
According to the Schuylkill County Police Department, most of the phone scams perpetrated in the county are targeted at the community’s senior citizens.
What are Schuylkill County IRS Impersonation Scams?
In an IRS impersonation scam, a fraudster poses as an Internal Revenue Service agent and accuses their target of defaulting in taxes. The fraudster threatens to arrest or deport the target if they refuse to remit the supposed outstanding tax payments. The IRS impersonation scammer asks the victim to remit the outstanding tax payment through a money order, prepaid debit card, iTunes card, or wire transfer.
When receiving a call from a scammer claiming to be from the IRS in Schuylkill County, a simple phone number lookup may reveal that the caller is from the area. However, IRS imposters in Schuylkill County easily spoof their caller IDs and make them look like they are from the area, while this may not be so.
The IRS warns victims to look out for signs that may show that callers claiming to be from the IRS are fraudulent. The IRS does not notify residents of tax defaults via random phone calls. The notification is usually done via mail. Also, the IRS does not accept tax default payments via prepaid debit cards. Residents can conduct reverse phone lookups to get the true identity of the IRS imposters.
What are Schuylkill County DEA Impersonation Scams?
In Schuylkill County, fraudsters target residents and pose as agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to deceive unsuspecting residents and extort them. The fraudsters call victims to threaten them, claiming they have violated a drug law. They threaten their victims that they will arrest them and sentence them to prison for spurious crimes.
After instilling so much fear into unsuspecting Schuylkill County residents, the scammers ask their victims to pay certain fines to be free. Many unsuspecting victims have lost thousands of dollars in this process. Residents are encouraged to conduct reverse phone look ups to determine who called.
What are Schuylkill County Tech Support Scams?
In Schuylkill tech support scams, the scammers impersonate staff of big tech companies. Recently, a 79-year-old woman in Schuylkill county lost $6,000 to a tech support scam. According to the Pennsylvania State Police, the perpetrator, an unidentified male, called her to say her Apple accounts were compromised. To solve the false problem with her Apple account, she gave the fraudster her personal information based on the scammer’s request. Consequently, the scammer was able to hack her bank accounts with the information she gave and wiped out $6,368 from the elderly woman’s savings.
Usually, tech support scammers in Schuylkill County target people’s computer systems with nonexistent problems like a web page hanging. They then call the victims, promising to fix the problem, while posing as personnel from popular tech companies like Microsoft and Apple. While offering their target technical assistance, they request the victim’s security information. Once they get the information, they hack the victim’s computer system and get their passwords, bank details, and other sensitive information.
What are Schuylkill County Lottery Scams?
Lottery scams are common in Schuylkill County. In these scams, the scammers call their victims to inform them of recent lottery wins. The scammers then ask their targets to pay certain fees before they can claim their winnings. Typically, they claim that the payments are for tax, courier fees, or other agency government fees.
The general rule is never to get excited over winning a lottery that you did not apply for. Schuylkill lottery scammers tend to bank on their victims’ excitements to get them to part with money or sensitive information. If you receive such a call, find out who called you by conducting a reverse phone lookup free of charge.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are pre-recorded calls delivered through auto-dialers using a computerized pre-recorded voice rather than a live human voice. Due to the breakthrough in technology, many entities use robocalls as part of their marketing and communications. At times, these programmed calls give users an option to speak with live representatives at the end of the prerecorded message. If you get a robocall, you can be sure you are not the only one getting the call. Robocalls are usually sent to many phone numbers at the same time.
Political organizations legally use robocalls as part of their campaign and awareness efforts. However, robocalls by telemarketers require the prior consent of the recipients; otherwise, they are considered illegal. Recently, Schuylkill phone scammers have begun to use robocalls to target their victims. Scammers using robocalls target their victims to steal their personal and financial information for fraudulent causes. Using phone number lookup services can help to identify incoming robocalls.
Here a few tips for dealing with robocalls:
- Do not pick up calls from unknown phone numbers.
- If you pick a robocall, hang up once you discover that it is a robocall and do not follow the prompts given during the call.
- After hanging up, block the number using call-blocking tools on your phone.
- Use a reverse phone number lookup app to block robocalls automatically.
- List your number in the National Do Not Call registry to prevent potential robocalls and spam calls in the future.
How Can You Spot and Report Schuylkill Phone Scams?
The major problem with phone scammers is that they are highly deceptive. According to recent FTC Explore data by the Federal Trade Commission, 1.25 million fraud complaints were submitted in 2020. That is the highest the agency has ever recorded in a calendar year. Scammers are getting more deceitful, using different methods to deceive unsuspecting participants.
Schuylkill county residents have to be careful by using reverse phone lookup apps to screen the calls that they receive. It is also important to register on FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry. This list helps to restrict incessant robocalls.
Here are some tips on how to easily spot scams:
- The caller requests your personal or financial information. The best thing to do in this case is to hang up. Government agencies do not request residents’ information over the phone.
- The caller asks for payment via gift cards or wire transfers. Scammers use these payment methods because they are hard to trace and difficult to refund. No government agency requests for fee payments via phone calls.
- The caller threatens you with arrest or revocation of license. No legitimate agency will ask for payment as a penalty for a crime. The caller is usually a scammer who obtained the target’s information illegally.
- The caller instructs you to keep the conversation secret. Scammers ask their victims to keep their exchange confidential so that the victim does not report the incident to the appropriate authorities.
- The caller presents a supposedly profitable investment deal or lucrative offer for you to buy into. Do not sign up for investment opportunities without doing the necessary due diligence.
If you fall victim to a scam in Schuylkill or know someone who has, the appropriate thing to do is to file a report with any of these agencies:
The Schuylkill County Sheriff: Phone scam victims can contact the County Sheriff over the phone or in person using the contact details below to report.
Schuylkill County Sheriff's Office
401 N 2nd St. Pottsville
Phone: (570) 628-1440
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection - Schuylkill County residents can report scams to the Bureau of Consumer Protection online, by email, or by calling the numbers 717-787-9707 or 800-441-2555.
Federal Trade Commission - Individuals may register their phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry to restrict unwanted calls. Residents can also file complaints with the FTC or call 1-888-382-1222 to report phone scams.