What are Wayne County Area Codes?
Similar to the rest of the United States, area codes in Wayne County are the three-digit numeric codes that identify the service areas of phone numbers within the county. Area codes are assigned to specific geographical regions, called the Numbering Plan Areas (NPAs). Each NPA has a different area code under the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), a project managing phone numbers for twenty countries in North America and the Caribbean. Wayne County currently has three active area codes. These are:
Area Code 919
Area code 919 was introduced into service from a split of the 704 NPA in central North Carolina on the 1st of January, 1954. Ten percent of its use is dedicated to Wayne County. In Wayne County, area code 919 is used in the towns of Dudley, Fremont, Goldsboro, Mount Olive, and Wayne
Area Code 252
Area code 252 was created in 1998 from a split of the 919 NPA. In Wayne County, area code 252 serves the Town of Seven Springs.
Area Code 984
Area code 984 was created in 2012 as an overlay code for the 919 NPA. It covers the same communities as area code 919. In Wayne County area code 984 is used in the towns of Dudley, Fremont, Goldsboro, Mount Olive, and Wayne.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Wayne County?
According to a 2018 CDC survey, about 57.3% of the adult population in North Carolina used cell phones as their sole telecommunications devices. An estimated 4.5% relied exclusively on landline phones for telephony. Among the state’s minors, 69.0% of the demographic lived in wireless-only homes, while only 2.6% used landline-only services.
Wayne County is served by the major national cell phone carriers. AT&T has the most coverage across North Carolina, with over 98%. Verizon is a close second. After absorbing Sprint in a merger, T-Mobile provides network coverage to over 80% of the state. In addition to the national carriers, Wayne County residents also enjoy affordable phone services from several Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). MVNOs offer discounted phone services by purchasing network services from the national providers in bulk and then reselling them to local users. MVNOs usually have roaming agreements that allow users to use the national provider’s cellular towers while traveling outside their city’s limits. Nevertheless, since MVNOs do not own network infrastructures, the coverage they extend can be spotty after leaving the home service area.
Wayne County residents can also choose to use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for their telephony needs. VoIP technology allows users to place calls over the internet, using smart devices and computers connected to the internet.
What are Wayne County Phone Scams?
Wayne County phone scams are frauds perpetrated through the use of telecommunication services. Phone scammers defraud residents by either manipulating them into paying money for non-existent products and services or obtaining confidential information for identity and financial theft. Among a large variety of possible scams, phone scams primarily target senior citizens and uninformed persons. According to the Attorney General of the State of North Carolina, over 1,500 elderly fraud complaints have been filed in 2020 alone, amounting to millions of dollars in losses.
To limit the possibility of getting scammed, Wayne County residents can use reverse phone number lookup services to identify the callers from unknown phone numbers. The most common scam in Wayne County is an imposter scam.
What are Wayne County Imposter Scams?
Wayne Country imposter scam is any scam where the caller pretends to be someone else. Such a person either convinces or scares the victim into paying money or giving up confidential information. The most common imposter scams in Wayne County are:
- Law Enforcement Imposter Scam is initiated when the scammer calls an unsuspecting target and introduces themself as a law enforcement officer. The caller tells the victim that they have missed a legal obligation, like jury duty, and to avoid arrest, they must make a payment. The scammer specifies a payment channel such as gift cards or mobile cash apps. Scammers are known to use real names and phone numbers of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office personnel to appear legitimate. This is called phone number spoofing. On the surface, if the victim runs a reverse phone number lookup or an internet phone search, the phone number can show up as a number, matching the name of the calling law enforcement officer. But if the calling officer requests a payment, you should immediately hang up. It is a scam.
- An online shopping website support agent imposter scam is perpetrated by a scammer who pretends to be with a familiar online shopping company such as Apple or Amazon. Robocalls usually take center stage in this scam. The scammer says that something is wrong with your shopping account. They may say a suspicious purchase was made or claim there was a strange log-in attempt. Then they ask you to confirm your account information, but they aim to glean your personal information and credit card details. If any Wayne County residents receive such calls, they should immediately hang up the phone and never press any numbers that the voice mail or the caller might provide as options. Even if the prompts suggest the removal of your phone number from their call list, ignore them. You can use a good reverse phone number lookup tool to identify a scammer and report them to law enforcement.
- IRS Imposter Scam is another version of the imposter scam frequently perpetrated in Wayne County. The scammer pretends to be from the Internal Revenue Service. The caller may state that they are investigating your tax account and ask for your personal information for supposed confirmation. Then they can use the gained information to gain access to your taxes, emails, online banking, and credit cards. The scammer can also accuse you of owing money to the IRS and demand immediate payment.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are phone calls that are made using dialing software to select phone numbers. Robocaller plays a pre-recorded message, instructing the recipient to press a certain key or to call back. Robocalls are considered illegal in Wayne County if they are made for sales purposes without the callee’s written permission. The exemption to this rule is given to the callers if they fall under the Federal Trade Commission’s exemption list.
FTC published rules state that robocalls are legal as long as:
- They are purely informational.
- They are used for debt collection without selling any additional services.
- These are calls from political organizations.
- These are calls from existing health providers.
- These are calls from charitable organizations. If a charity hires another organization to make the robocalls, then these calls can be made only to the previous donors of the charity and its current members.
Robocall scams usually ask targets to press a number according to the associated given actions. A targeted individual may be offered a way to connect to a live operator or unsubscribe from the call list. Never press any numbers before hanging up to avoid falling victim to robocall scams. Spam calls are usually unwanted. They often attempt to sell products or services and are widely intended for fraudulent purposes. Spam calls may be placed by live telemarketers or auto-dialers.
If you suspect a fraudulent robocall or a spam call, it is best to ignore such a call. Instead, allow it to go directly to voicemail. If you mistakenly answer the call, do not press any numbers as you may be instructed. Hang up instead. It is possible to identify an incoming robocall using a reverse phone lookup tool.
To mitigate the threat of robocall scams in Wayne County, residents are encouraged to add their phone numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry. Additionally, cell phone users can install call-blocking applications on their phones to block identified robocall and spam calls.
How Can You Spot and Report Wayne County Phone Scams?
Wayne County residents should remain current with trending phone scams to enable them to know how to spot and report them. The main signs of a possible scam call are when you are asked:
- To act urgently, without a chance to research the caller’s offer
- To send money via prepaid debit cards, store cards, wire transfer, or cash apps
- To provide confidential information
If you answer an incoming phone call and there is nobody on the other side, it might be a scam call. Also, or if you hear an automated and non-personalized message, this is most likely a scam, and you should hang up.
If the caller pretends to be with a government agency and asks for money through a specific form of payment or wants your personal information, it is likely a scam. If you owe something to the government, you will be advised by an official letter in the mail. Such a letter will provide you with multiple official payment options.
If anything looks, sounds, or feels wrong about a call, it is most likely a scam. Do not answer such a call. Let it go to voicemail. If the phone call is legitimate, the caller will leave a voicemail or send you a text message, and you can call them back. A scammer will either hang up or leave a voicemail, asking you to call them back if you do not answer a call.
Before filing a phone scam report, run a reverse phone number lookup on the scammer’s number to figure out: “who is this number registered to?” If it is not a spoofed call, you will find out who owns it.
In Wayne County, phone scam complaints can be filed with the government agencies listed below:
- The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office can be reached at (919) 722-6200 or via mail at P.O. Box 175, Goldsboro, NC 27533.
- The Wayne County Sheriff’s Department can be reached by calling the office at (919) 731-1481 or in person at 207 East Chestnut Street, Goldsboro, NC 27530.
At the state level, phone scams can be reported to the North Carolina Office of the Attorney General (AG) online or by calling (877) 5-NO-SCAM (566-7226). Illegal robocalls can also be reported to the AGNC online.
Furthermore, Wayne County residents can report phone scam incidents to the following federal agencies:
- Victims of IRS Imposter Scams can file reports with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at (800) 366-4484. Alternatively, they can report such incidents to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by calling (877) FTC-HELP.
- The Federal Trade Commission enforces consumer protection laws and receives phone scam reports filed online. The FTC encourages residents to add their phone numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry. The Federal Communications Commission regulates all communications across the U.S. Phone scam complaints can be filed with the FCC online or by calling the office at (888) CALL-FCC (225-5322).