What are Westmoreland County Area Codes?
An area code is the first three-digit number at the beginning of a 10-digit North American telephone number. Westmoreland County area codes identify the county's telephone service areas, also known as Numbering Plan Areas (NPAs), as established by the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) manages and implements area codes in Pennsylvania, including Westmoreland County.
The three currently active area codes in Westmoreland County are:
Area Code 412
Area code 412 was put into service in 1947, and it covers Westmoreland County and some parts of a few other counties in Pennsylvania. The cities and communities under the 412 NPA in Westmoreland County include Greensburg and Trafford.
Area Code 724
Created as a split from the 412 NPA in 1998, area code 724 includes Westmoreland County and many others in Pennsylvania. Westmoreland communities within the 724 NPA include Greensburg, Delmont, Arnold, Irwin, and West Newton. Others are Murrysville, New Florence, and Export.
Area Code 878
Area code 878 overlays the 412 and 724 NPAs. It came into service in 2001, covering Westmoreland County and several others in Pennsylvania. The major communities and cities under area code 878 include Latrobe, Greensburg, West Newton, Lower Burrel, Ligonier, and Jeannette.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Westmoreland County?
Over the last decade, the adoption rate of wireless telephony services in Pennsylvania has increased, and this is more evident among the minors in the state. The analysis of data obtained from a 2018 CDC survey for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is an indication that cell phones are steadily displacing landline phones in many Pennsylvania homes. The survey revealed that 52.5% of the children population had adopted wireless phones only for telephony services. Only about 2.3% of them used landline phones exclusively for communication. The percentage of the adult population that used wireless telephony services solely was 43.4%. An estimated 4.3% of them reportedly used landline telephony services only in that year.
VoIP from Centrex was introduced in Westmoreland County in 2009. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that routes data over internet connections. Residents of Westmoreland County use it as an alternative to landline and wireless telephone services. It is relatively affordable and supports audio calling, video conferencing, and text messaging.
The four major American phone carriers and some Mobile Virtual Network Services (MVNOs) provide network services in Westmoreland County. However, the coverage provided by each of them differs. In Murrysville, Verizon provides the best coverage at 92% closely followed by T-Mobile at 84%. Sprint has a network spread of 80%, while AT&T covers 84% of the city.
What are Westmoreland County Phone Scams?
Phone scams in Westmoreland County are dishonest practices targeted at fraudulently obtaining money and information from county residents using phones and telephone services. The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General (POAG) educates residents on identifying phone scams and avoiding them. Phone scammers are known for impersonating trusted authorities in their quest to extort their marks. Robocalls, live phone calls, and text messages are the prevalent channels by which phone scams are being perpetrated.
In Westmoreland County, residents can uncover suspicious callers' identities using applications and websites that offer free reverse phone lookup services. Most phone scams can be avoided using such services.
Some of the commonly perpetrated phone scams in Westmoreland County are:
What are Charity Phone Scams?
Charity scams happen all-year-round but are more prevalent after disasters or during emergencies. Fraudsters count on the goodwill of people and pretend to be representatives of charity organizations to solicit money for fake charities to cheat Westmoreland County residents. Some even claim to be with familiar charities in a bid to win the trust of their targets and extort them. They usually solicit donations using irregular payment methods such as cash, gift cards, and wire transfers. A representative of a legitimate charity organization will never request a contribution from anyone using such means.
To avoid falling for charity phone scams in Westmoreland county, never be in a hurry to donate to unsolicited callers. Westmoreland County residents should always confirm the authenticity of unknown persons who call them for charity donations before doing so. Conducting a reverse phone lookup on such a caller’s phone number can reveal the call’s origin and the caller's identity.
What are IRS Scams?
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scams in Westmoreland have many variations, but they are generally targeted at taxpayers. Typically, the IRS does not call taxpayers on many issues except if requested by a taxpayer. They mostly communicate with taxpayers by mail. If someone calls you out of the blues and claims to be with the IRS, run their phone number through a reverse phone lookup application to confirm their identity. In many cases, IRS scammers have some information about their targets and speak with authority when they call. The fraudsters either call to request more information or claim that their marks have delinquent taxes that must be settled promptly to avoid arrest.
During such calls, the fraudsters may ask for their targets' social security numbers and credit card numbers. It is only a ploy to obtain your information and commit both identity and financial thefts. Never be pressured to disclose your personal information to anyone who pretends to be an IRS employee, especially if you did not initiate such a call. The IRS keeps your information on file and will not ask you for any confirmation over the phone.
What are Social Security Scams?
The Social Security Administration (SSA) warns residents never to disclose personal information over the phone or by any means to anyone who claims to be with the SSA. Fraudsters pretending to be SSA’s employees are spoofing unsuspecting Westmoreland County residents’ Caller IDs to extort money and information from them. Applications that offer reverse phone lookup free services come in handy in identifying spoofed calls and avoiding scams.
Social security scammers perpetrate their frauds in various ways. They may inform their targets that their Social Security Numbers (SSNs) were compromised and are linked to some crimes under investigation. They may equally threaten arrest for the supposed crimes unless their targets are willing to pay their way out of such situations. In typical cases, the scammers will ask their marks to confirm full names and SSNs, pretending to match the information with those under investigation. Know that it is only a trick to obtain your confidential data to commit identity and financial theft. The targets are usually mandated to pay them via wire transfers or gift cards to avoid arrests. SSA employees do not solicit money or threaten residents with arrests over the phone. If you are a social security scam victim in Westmoreland County, file a complaint online with the Office of the Inspector General, SSA.
What are Utility Scams?
Generally, it is hard for anyone to live without power, water, or gas. As such, people naturally oblige anyone who calls them and pretends to be with their local utility companies.
If you receive a call from such a person to pay a delinquent bill by a gift card or wire transfer, it is most definitely a scam. Although genuine utility companies offer various ways to settle utility bills, they are unlikely to mandate anyone to pay them via such odd payment channels. Phone number search applications can return the caller's identity information and address. In utility scams, the callers typically threaten to disconnect services to targeted persons if they fail to pay their bills promptly. It is crucial to state that legitimate utility service companies do not call to threaten immediate disconnection of service. They usually inform customers with delinquent accounts about debts and disconnections by mail. If you get such a phone call, it is best to hang up and call your utility service provider on the phone number provided on your monthly utility bill.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are automated phone calls that deliver recorded messages. They are usually unsolicited. Phone scammers target Westmoreland County residents with robocalls in attempts to defraud them. Generally, robocalls are meant for legitimate uses by telemarketing companies and political organizations to communicate to a mass audience. The ability of robocalls to reach a large number of phone users is what makes them appealing to phone scammers. Phone scammers can spoof Caller IDs to display different phone numbers (especially those of familiar entities) to defraud their targets. Spam calls are a form of unsolicited calls and may be used for both legitimate or illegitimate purposes. In most cases, they are used to establish whether phone numbers are active or not for future genuine sales engagement or otherwise. Robocalls are a variant of spam calls.
Robocalls help scammers to conceal their identities at will, which makes tracking and apprehending them challenging for law enforcement. To report robocall scams in Westmoreland County, call the FTC on 1 (888) 382-1222 or contact the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office at (724) 830-345. You can identify robocall scams by running suspicious-looking phone numbers through applications that provide good reverse phone lookup services.
Taking the following steps will help you to avoid falling prey to a robocall scam in Westmoreland County:
- Register your phone number on the Do Not Call List provided by the FTC. Although you may still receive unsolicited calls after registration, you can, however, see them as potential scam calls.
- File reports of identified robocall scams online with the FTC. You can also report such unsolicited calls to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
- Inquire from your phone carrier to know if it offers call-blocking services and find out if it is free. Call-blocking services activated on your phone will silence calls from identified robocall numbers and prevent you from falling victim.
- Hang up a call once you realize it is a robocall. You will receive more unsolicited calls if you act on any instruction prompting you to press a number to unsubscribe from future phone calls.
How Can You Spot and Report Westmoreland County Phone Scams?
The need to avoid robocall scams in Westmoreland County cannot be overstated as phone scammers continue to extort residents. Phone scam awareness through education and scam alerts by consumer protection agencies and law enforcement are crucial in combating this scourge. The onus lies with Westmoreland County residents to be watchful, know how to spot phone scam attempts, and avoid falling victims. As a rule of thumb, never send money or share your personal information with unknown persons over the phone, especially if you did not initiate the conversation. The signs that you may be speaking to a phone scammer include:
- The caller claims to be an employee of a government agency and threatens you with arrest for failure to comply immediately with their demands.
- The caller tries to compel you to make an impulse buying decision and use pressure tactics to get you to pay immediately.
- The person requests you to share sensitive personal or financial information on the phone while claiming to be with the government. Employees of government agencies will never do that, especially not via phone calls.
- The caller informs you of being specially selected by their company for a prize but asks you to pay a certain amount of money to claim such a gift. Gifts are not meant to be redeemed by any fee.
- The caller requests payment by odd payment channels and insists you pay while still staying on the phone. Phone scammers typically demand payments by wire transfer, cash, bitcoins, and gift cards.
Government agencies at both county and state levels educate Westmoreland County residents on identifying and avoiding phone scams. They equally serve as reporting agencies, taking complaints on phone scam incidents and investigating them where possible. These agencies include:
Federal Communications Commission - Westmoreland County residents who believe they may be victims of phone scams perpetrated by spoofed robocalls can register their complaints online with the FCC. The FCC educates people on how to block unwanted robocalls and avoid phone scams.
Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General - Interested persons in Westmoreland County can register for phone scam alerts periodically provided by the POAG to stay informed of trending phone scams. Victims of phone scams in Westmoreland County can file complaints online with the Attorney General’s Office or by calling (717) 787-3391.
Federal Trade Commission - The FTC developed the DNC Registry to help Americans avoid falling prey to robocall scams. Persons who have their phone numbers enrolled on the registry can quickly identify robocalls and avoid phone scams. Incidents of phone scams in Westmoreland County can be reported to the FTC online or by calling 1 (888) 382-1222.
Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office - The Sheriff's Office investigates all phone scam incidents reported to it on (724) 830-345 by residents. It uses websites that provide phone number lookup by address services to know the origins of scam phone calls. Residents who wish to file phone scam complaints in person at the Sheriff’s Office can visit Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office at 2 N Main St., Greensburg, PA 15601.