What are Onslow County Area Codes?
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator was created to manage the distribution of area codes in North America. The North American Numbering Plan was created to unify the different phone numbering plans previously managed by individual telephone companies in North America. The plan divides North America into numbering plan areas, which are identified by three-digit numbers referred to as area codes. The North Carolina Utilities Commission regulates the services and rates of all investor-owned telephone services providers in North Carolina. They are responsible for regulating the quality of service, phone number portability, numbering resources, interconnection agreements and rates, and terms and conditions of wholesale services.
Area Code 910
The area code 910 was officially put into service on the 14th of November 1993. It was created from a split of the 919 area code. The area code 910 was further split in 1997 to form the area code 366. The area code 910 serves several large cities and communities like Wilmington, Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, and Jacksonville.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Onslow County?
Onslow County residents rely on traditional landlines or wireless telephones as their primary means of communication. In a 2018 study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics Survey, it was observed that both adults and minors in the State of North Carolina preferred wireless phone services to the traditional landlines. The survey detailed that 57.3% of all adults in North Carolina relied exclusively on wireless phone services. This was remarkable as compared to the 4.5% of adults who only relied on traditional landlines.
The survey also indicated that 12.9% of adults in North Carolina used both wireless phone services and traditional landlines. Similar findings were also observed amongst minors in the state, where 69% of minors in the state used wireless phone services exclusively, and 2.6% of minors in the state used traditional landlines. The study also showed that 8.1% of minors in the state relied on traditional landlines and wireless communications. It was observed that a smaller percentage of minors in the state relied on traditional landlines only as compared to adults.
Verizon, which covers 98% of Onslow County, is the telephone service provider with the widest coverage in the county. Other major service providers that operate within Onslow county are AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, with each covering 78%, 64%, and 62% of the county, respectively. Note that while there are overlaps in the coverage provided by these four major carriers, there also exist blind spots where the telephone signals of these companies are absent or weak. However, numerous other Mobile Virtual Network Operators in Onslow County help eliminate these blind spots and extend the reach of telephony services within the county.
The decline in the use of Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) has led to the creation of several new and more dynamic telephony services. These new telephony services are currently being provided by all telephone service providers within Onslow County. They provide a more cost-effective, reliable, and flexible means of communication for county residents. One of such services is the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). VoIP leverages technology that converts voice signals into digital signals before transmission. Many residents and businesses in Onslow County have adopted the use of VoIP as it helps drive the cost of telephone services down.
What are Onslow County Phone Scams?
Onslow County phone scams are calls made by fraudsters targeting county residents. The objective of these fraudsters is to defraud county residents. During the calls, the fraudsters attempt to obtain residents’ personal information, money, and other sensitive information. These fraudsters often come up with very many schemes in an attempt to defraud residents. Some of their schemes include impersonation of county officials, fake business opportunities, fake lotteries, and romance scams. Onslow County officials have advised residents to remain vigilant and informed about the methods used by fraudsters to defraud residents. They also advise residents to use services like area code lookup and phone number lookup by address to identify where calls originated from.
What are Onslow County Bank Account Service Update Scams?
In a bank account service update scam, a fraudster spoofs the caller ID of an Onslow County resident, making their number appear like a local county phone number. During the call, the fraudster claims to be calling from the resident's bank, informing the resident of an ongoing system upgrade to provide better services. They then request the resident's bank information over the phone to enable them to update the resident's details. County residents should note that banks will never request customer information for updates over the phone. Residents can also rely on good reverse phone lookup services to help verify the identity of callers.
What are Onslow County Social Security Scams?
In the social security scam, fraudsters call Onslow County residents, impersonating officials from the Social Security Administration Office. The fraudsters use caller ID spoofing to make their phone numbers appear like real Social Security Agency phone numbers. They then proceed to inform residents that their social security numbers have been linked with several crimes. Fraudsters employ threats of arrest and intimidation tactics to frighten residents. They then proceed to offer Onslow County residents a way to avoid arrest. This often involves the residents having to make certain payments. The fraudsters also seize the opportunity to obtain county residents’ social security numbers and other personal details.
What are Onslow County Utility Bill Scams?
In utility bill scams, fraudsters call Onslow County residents and claim to be from certain utility companies. During the calls, they insist that residents have unpaid utility bills. They then demand immediate payment of the bills. Sometimes the fraudsters claim that residents have overpaid their utility bills. They proceed to request residents’ bank details and personal information to enable them to process a refund of the excess fees. Onslow County residents should verify such information by calling the utility bill company’s official line. The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office continually reminds county residents never to give out personal information over the phone.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Spam calls are persistent unsolicited calls from unwanted parties. On the other hand, robocalls are calls that are made using pre-programmed automatic dialers to call phone numbers. Robocalls are popularly used by tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, political campaigns, and polling agencies. While many robocalls are considered illegal, others made under the provisions Telephone Consumer Protection Act are legal. According to the act, all robocalls require the telephone subscribers' consent before they can be made. The act also stipulates that tax-exempt nonprofits, polling agencies, political campaigns, and other informational messages do not require consent.
Exponential growth has been experienced in the use of robocalls as many organizations rely on them more to get messages to a large number of individuals in a short period. This growth is also driven by advancements in technology, making accessibility to robocall software a lot easier. Unfortunately, this growth has also fueled the increase in the use of robocalls by fraudsters to defraud individuals. Therefore, Onslow County residents need to arm themselves with knowledge on identifying these spam calls and illegal robocalls to avoid being defrauded. When faced with these annoying, disturbing, and frustrating robocalls and spam calls, Onslow County residents are advised to take the following actions:
- Register with the National Do Not Call Register. This prevents them from receiving unwanted robocalls for 31 days.
- Arm themselves with call blocking solutions to block unwanted calls.
- Ignore calls from suspicious numbers. However, if they pick and discover it is a robocall or spam call, they should hang up immediately and not follow any prompts.
- File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Deploy reverse phone lookup and area code lookup services to identify who called and what area code the call is from.
- Stay informed and educated on the new techniques employed by these fraudsters to commit these scams.
- Never give out their personal information over the phone.
How Can You Spot and Report Onslow County Phone Scams?
The growth in the number of scams perpetrated by fraudsters on Onslow County residents has been fueled by technological advancement. Residents should note that while these technological advancements have also made it easier to spot these scams. Fraudsters are continually changing the methods with which they operate. As such, Onslow County authorities recommend that residents get call blocking solutions from their network operators. Residents are also advised to subscribe to phone number lookup by address services. Finally, residents need to stay informed on the methods used by these fraudsters to spot them. Here are some guidelines to enable residents of Onslow County to spot scam calls:
- The caller proposes a business opportunity that is too good to be true and remains very sketchy about the details of the opportunity.
- The caller uses generic greetings, as they are uncertain about who they are speaking to.
- The caller deliberately seeks opportunities to get residents to give out their personal information over the phone.
- The caller pressures residents to decide on the phone without allowing the resident to verify their claims independently.
- The caller starts the call with a pre-recorded message.
- The caller poses as a legitimate business but will request payment through an alternate payment channel like Western Union, Money Gram, bitcoin, and sometimes even a gift card. The fraudster uses these alternate payment channels as they make the transactions difficult to verify and trace. A legitimate business is only going to request payment through their bank.
Unfortunately, some residents of Onslow County still fall victim to these scams; hence, several agencies have been set up to receive complaints and reports of scams. These agencies include:
The North Carolina Attorney General's Office - Phone scams, robocalls, and other fraud complaints can be reported online or in person at:
The Office of the States Attorney General
114 W Edenton Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603
Monday - Friday 8am -5pm
Phone: (877) 5-NO-SCAM
The North Carolina Utilities Commission - The North Carolina Utilities Commission receives complaints and reports on spam and robocalls. These complaints can be made online or in-person at:
430 North Salisbury Street
Dobbs Building 5th Floor
Raleigh, NC 27603-5918
Phone: (919) 733-9277 or (866) 380-9816
Or mail:
4325 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4300
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - The FTC focuses on protecting customers from unethical business practices. Victims of fraud can file complaints with the FTC.
Jacksonville Department of Public Safety - The Jacksonville Department of Public Safety handles phone scams and other online fraud complaints. These complaints can be filed online or in person at:
Public Safety Complex
200 Marine Boulevard
Jacksonville, NC 28541
Phone: (910) 455-4000
The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office - Deals with all internet frauds and phone scam reports. Reports can be filed in person at:
Onslow County Sheriff’s Office
717 Court Street
Jacksonville, NC 28540
Phone: (910) 455-3113
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center - Complaints can be filed by residents who have been defrauded directly on this website