What are Rutherford County Area Codes?
The North American Numbering Plan, which was adopted in 1940 was instituted to unify all telephone numbering plans for various telephone service providers in North America. The North American Numbering Plan administrator is responsible for the distribution of area codes in North America. Area codes are unique to the specific geographical locations they cover. The Tennessee Public Utility Commission was set up to implement and establish a policy to guide telephone companies in the State.
Area code 615
Area code 615 is one of the three area codes that cover the State of Tennessee. The area code 615 was brought into service in 1954. It was created from a split of the 901 area code. The 615 area code was later split to form the 423 area code in 1995 and 931 in 1997. The 615 area code serves over 60 cities. The area code also serves several metropolitan areas and large cities and communities, including Murfreesboro, Brentford, Franklin, Gallatin, and Lebanon.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Rutherford County?
Determining the best cell phone plans in any county is often complicated as various parameters need to be considered. Some of these parameters include coverage area, cell phone plans, and other value-added services. Based on the coverage area, Rutherford County provides an above-average wireless coverage countywide. Verizon provides the best wireless coverage in Rutherford County with a coverage score of 98%. AT&T is in second place with a coverage score of 68%. This is followed closely by Sprint and T-Mobile with a coverage score of 66% each. However, in terms of 4G coverage, Verizon provides the most stable 4G coverage with 94.2% uptime, it is closely followed by T-Mobile with 94% coverage. The other two 4G wireless services, which are AT&T and Sprint provide a 4G coverage of 88.9% and 88.4% respectively.
Another crucial factor to consider when determining the best cell phone plan is the cost of the plan relative to the Rutherford County resident’s location. In general, T-Mobile offers the cheapest cell phone plan is a pay-as-you-go service of $0.30 per minute. Other service providers offer equally affordable plans with Sprint offering an “Extra Small Plan”, which gives the subscriber unlimited talk time and 1GB data at $40. AT&T also offers their “Mobile Share Value'' at $45, which gives the subscriber 300MB of data and unlimited talk time. Finally, Verizon offers a “Small Plan” at $50 with unlimited talk time and $1Gb of data.
Data has become a very crucial part of wireless communications that has driven the growth and acceptance of various new and innovative telecommunications services. One of such services is the Voice Over Internet Protocol. The VoIP service is becoming increasingly acceptable as it offers much cheaper call rates and greater reliability over long distances. This increased reliance on VoIP communication is driven by the marked behavior shift amongst residents of Rutherford County.
The 2018 National Center of Health Statistics survey shows that most Tennessee residents prefer wireless telephone services to traditional landlines. According to this study, 61% of the adults in the state rely solely on wireless telephone services, 3.7% rely solely on landlines, and 9.6% utilize both wireless communications and landlines. Similarly, 71.1% of the state's residents under the age of 18 preferred wireless phone services, while only 1.6% and 5.5% used only landlines or a combination of wireless services and landlines respectively.
What are Rutherford County Phone Scams?
These are scams perpetrated against Rutherford County residents. These scams are often perpetrated by fraudsters over the phone. Scammers often use techniques like impersonation, spoofing, fraudulent business proposals, and outright intimidation to obtain residents’ personal information, money, or financial information. To avoid these scammers, residents of Rutherford County are advised to be cautious when answering calls from unknown numbers. They can also use free reverse phone lookup, or phone number lookup tools that make it easy for the Rutherford county resident to get the identity of unknown callers.
Several institutions such as Murfreesboro Police Department, the Better Business Bureau, and Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office have highlighted the importance of residents of Rutherford County to be alert and stay informed on the methods applied by many of these agencies to commit these scams.
What are Rutherford County 90# Phone Scams?
These scams are often perpetrated on residents and businesses in Rutherford County. Fraudsters target landlines that a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) or a Private Automatic Branch Exchange (PABX) serves. The fraudsters call Rutherford County businesses or residents, claiming to be from their phone companies. They inform the residents that there are issues with their phone lines. The Fraudsters then request that the residents either dial 90# or pass the call to an outside phone number before they hang up. This grants the fraudsters access to the residents’ phone; hence all calls made by the fraudsters will be billed to the Rutherford County residents' phone number. Note that phone companies will never ask residents to dial or connect the call to an external line. Residents and business owners in Rutherford County can also use number lookup services to determine the origin of suspicious calls.
What are Rutherford County Sim Swapping or Port Out Scams?
These are scams that are perpetrated by fraudsters in Rutherford County. The fraudsters hijack the phone numbers of Rutherford County residents. For the success of these scams, the fraudsters will acquire enough information about residents, such as their mobile operators' PINs and Passwords. The fraudsters will then send requests to the mobile service providers, requesting that the phone numbers be ported to other service providers or devices that are in their control. Hence, the fraudsters are able to hijack Rutherford County residents’ phone numbers and identities. Once they have access to the phone numbers, they can then get the residents' personal information such as the residents’ names, addresses, birthdates, Pins, passwords, and social security numbers. The fraudsters may also have access to the victims’ emails and messages. These scams can also be committed by physically stealing the sims of the Rutherford County residents.
What are Rutherford County Social Security Scams?
In social security scams, the fraudsters call Rutherford County residents and pose as officials with the Social Security Administration. During the call, the scammers deceive the victims that their social security numbers have been used to commit crimes. These scammers often use threats of arrest and legal actions against the victims to scare them. The scammers then offer to help the victims resolve the situation, asking them to pay certain amounts of money. Often when this payment request is made, they may also use the opportunity to request sensitive financial information.
What are Rutherford County COVID-19 Scams?
There are two types of scams being perpetrated under the guise of COVID-19. They are the COVID-19 relief scam and the COVID-19 contact tracing scam.
For the COVID-19 relief scam, the scammers impersonate government officials and call residents, requesting their bank details. They deceive the recipients, saying that these details are required to claim the relief payment that the government promised. Rutherford County officials have instructed that residents do not take any action to get any relief payments. These relief payments will either be mailed directly to them or paid into their accounts on file with the IRS.
For the contact tracing scam, the scammer spoofs the victim’s caller ID, making their phone number appear like a legitimate health services employee's phone number. The fraudster claims that the victim has been exposed to the COVID-19 virus and then requests for their personal information.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Spam calls are unwanted and unsolicited calls often made by fraudulent parties. These calls are illegal as they are made without prior consent. Spam calls have been around for years, and they have been on the increase over the years. This increase is due to technological advancement, which makes it easier to make such a large number of calls. One of such technologies used to make spam calls is robocalls.
Robocalls are automated calls that utilize computerized auto-dialers to call a large number of people in a short time. Robocalls can be either legal or illegal. According to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, there are restrictions on the use of robocalls. The act only permits unsolicited robocalls for market research, polling, or calls from tax-exempt nonprofits. Other robocalls would require the written or verbal consent of the telephone subscriber. While robocalls are very useful in communication with a large number of people, they have been exploited by fraudsters to perpetrate all sorts of phone scams. Rutherford County residents are advised to use free number lookup services to identify who called them.
Some options to deal with illegal robocalls are:
- Avoid answering calls from unknown numbers.
- Hang up calls that require you to dial any number or press a button as soon as you answer them. These calls may be from scammers.
- Avoid giving out personal information over the phone.
- Use call-blocking services from either your mobile service provider or other call blocking services to stop unwanted calls.
- Register your number with the Do Not Call Registry. This service prevents telemarketers from being able to call you.
How to Spot and Report Rutherford County Phone Scams?
The increased number and sophistication of phone scams committed by phone scammers in Rutherford County has driven the need for residents of the County to exercise caution with calls from unknown numbers. Note that it would be near impossible to avoid being targets of phone scammers. However, residents can avoid being victims of phone scams by understanding the methods and being able to know key indicators to look out for to identify phone scams.
Here are some key indicators to look out for to spot a phone scam:
- The caller uses high-pressure sales tactics to keep you under pressure to make a quick decision without thinking through the offer. Most legitimate businesses often give ample time for investors to think through their offer before they make a decision.
- The caller requests payment through very unconventional channels like cash applications, western union, bitcoin, and other alternative payment platforms instead of regular bank transfers.
- The caller asks you to stay on the phone for a long period and tries to do all that is possible to prevent you from hanging up.
Residents of Rutherford County are advised to look out for these warning signs, as they are indicative of likely scammers. However, Rutherford county residents that have been defrauded can contact the relevant local or federal authorities that deal with phone scams. Some of these government agencies include:
Tennessee Attorney General Office - Residents of Rutherford County can file complaints online or in person to;
The Tennessee Attorney General Office
The Division of Consumer Affairs
John Sevier State Building
500 Charlette Avenue,
Nashville, TN 37219
Federal Trade Commission - Reports can be filed online.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - File complaints online with the FCC or call 1-888-225-5322.
Rutherford County Sheriff's Office - Complaints can be filed in person at the Sheriff’s Office at:
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office and Adult Detention Center
940 New Salem Highway
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Monday - Friday 8 AM - 10 PM
Call 615-904-3038