What are Sumner County Area Codes?
A string of three-digit code, known as an area code, identifies each Numbering Plan Area (NPA) in a state as designated by the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). Area codes precede North American phone numbers and identify the origins and destinations of phone calls. In Tennessee, the Tennessee Public Utility Commission (PUC) administers and implements area codes. Two area codes currently serve Sumner County. These are:
Area Code 615
Split from the 901 NPA in 1954, area code 615 serves several counties in Tennessee, including Sumner County. Cities and communities in Sumner County within the 615 NPA include Gallatin, Portland, White House, Bethpage, Westmoreland, and Hendersonville.
Area Code 629
Area code 629 is an overlay code of the 615 NPA put into active service in 2015. It covers Sumner County and parts of some other counties in Tennessee. In Sumner County, area code 629 serves all the cities under the 615 NPA.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Sumner County?
Cell phone coverage from all the major phone carriers is excellent in Tennessee, although with varying degrees. All the four major carriers, namely Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, provide network services in Sumner County. The exceptional services provided by the major carriers allow Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) to offer residents excellent phone services at affordable rates. In Gallatin, Sprint and Verizon offer coverage of 96% and 86%, respectively. Although most cities in Sumner County do not enjoy coverage by all four major carriers, residents rely on smaller MVNOs for telephony services.
Like some other states in the United States, Tennessee has a high rate of cell phone adoption even as telephony gradually shifts towards wireless services. A 2018 CDC survey conducted to review phone usage among Tennessee residents revealed this fact. According to data from this survey, about 61.2% of the adults in the state had adopted wireless-only telephony, while only 3.7% of them still used landline phones solely for telecommunications. Wireless telephony services adoption rate is more pronounced among the under-18 population, with over 70% representing those who lived in wireless-only homes.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that delivers telephone services over IP connections, mainly broadband internet. It provides an alternative telephony medium for Sumner County residents, and it is cheaper, efficient, and flexible to use. VoIP allows long-distance calls at relatively affordable rates and sometimes, for free.
What are Sumner County Phone Scams?
Any scam conducted over the phone in Sumner County using telephone services is referred to as Sumner County phone scam. Typically, fraudsters use text messages and live phone calls while preying on their targets to extort them. In some instances, they employ robocalls to mislead targeted residents in an attempt to rip them off. Interested Sumner County residents can learn how to identify robocalls using reverse phone number lookup applications and avoid scams. Scammers often manipulate their targets' caller ID information to display the phone numbers of veritable entities through a process known as phone spoofing. As with robocalls, it is also possible to determine if incoming calls are spoofed using phone number lookup free services. Phone spoofing allows scammers to appear legitimate when contacting their marks. Hence, Sumner County residents should beware and never trust the caller ID information that shows up on their phones to avoid scams.
The Division of Consumer Affairs of the Tennessee Office of the Attorney General (OAG) receives all consumer complaints about deceptive practices, including phone scams. The OAG is the primary consumer protection agency in Tennessee, including Sumner County. The Sumner County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) raises phone scam awareness within the county through its periodically published phone scam incidents. It also investigates all cases of phone scams reported by county residents. The following are the most prevalent phone scams in Sumner County:
What are Sumner? ?County? Arrest Warrant Scams?
The Sumner County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) warns residents about fraudsters contacting residents while posing as officers of the agency to solicit money. In most cases, the callers spoof their targets’ Caller IDs to display the official phone numbers of the SCSO when perpetrating arrest warrant scams. Phone number lookup applications can help residents identify spoofed phone calls and avoid scams facilitated by phone spoofing. The fraudsters often sound aggressive to instill fear in their targets and claim that targeted residents have outstanding warrants or misdemeanor charges. In some instances, they may be gentle on their targets while pretending to be lending helping hands and ask them to pay certain fines to avoid arrests. The scammers usually threaten to execute immediate arrests on targeted residents perceived to be hesitant. Typically, the fraudsters request payments through irregular payment channels such as wire transfers, gift cards, and prepaid debit cards. They sometimes ask for the victims’ financial information, such as credit card details to facilitate such payments.
Never be pressured into paying unknown callers who contact you with claims of arrest warrants. Sumner County residents are encouraged to always verify arrest warrant claims by calling their local law enforcement offices. Legitimate law enforcement officers do not threaten arrest or solicit money over the phone. If you receive a call from anyone claiming to be with the law enforcement officer with this type of allegation, hang up immediately and contact your local law enforcement to substantiate such claims. Reverse phone lookup websites can return the identity information of these scammers and facilitate investigations by law enforcement.
What are Sumner? ?County? Social Security Scams?
Social security scam schemes often lead to identity and financial theft. Residents can avoid them using free reverse phone lookup applications to determine the identities of unknown callers. In social security scams, fraudsters pretend to be with the Social Security Administration (SSA) or other familiar government agencies to extort unsuspecting residents. Although there are many variations of the scam, fraudsters often inform their targets of issues with their social security numbers (SSNs) that require urgent attention. Fixing the problems will involve potential victims confirming certain personal information, including their SSNs, for supposed verification purposes. They often obtain compliance by telling their targets that they learned while conducting some criminal investigations that their SSNs were involved in such crimes. To instill fear in their marks, the caller will inform them that they have been declared wanted but would clear their names if they are willing to pay some money. If such persons attempt to argue or refute such allegations, the scammers will threaten immediate arrest by law enforcement. The scammers favored means of receiving payments are wire transfers and gift cards.
Sumner County residents who are victims of social security scams can report them online to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), SSA. Never share your personal information or send money to anyone over the phone who poses as law enforcement or an employee of the SSA. It is essential to state that the SSA or other legitimate government agencies will never request your confidential information or solicit money over the phone. If you receive such phone calls, confirm that the callers are actually with the agencies they claim to represent using phone number search applications.
What are Sumner? ?County? Credit Repair Scams?
In Sumner County, credit repair scams are targeted at residents with poor credit records and who are in dire need of credits. Typically, the scammers pretend to be with familiar credit repair companies and promise to clean out their targets' bad credit histories for a fee. Reverse number lookup applications can retrieve identifying information on these fraudsters and prevent residents from falling victim to these scams. Credit repair scammers mostly insist on receiving payments by wire transfers. They may equally inform their marks to purchase gift cards and send the card details to them. During their conversation with potential victims, these scammers will request social security numbers (SSNs), among other personal information, with a promise to help them get new SSNs.
Be wary of such callers. They may be selling a stolen security number from previous scams as your new SSN and assuring you a fresh start. It is worthy to state that credit repair scams do not issue SSNs. If you have been a victim of this scam and use such a social security number, that is tantamount to identity fraud, and you may end up in legal cases. If you intend to repair your poor credit reports, pay up all your financial obligations and develop the habit of paying your debts regularly. Never share personal information with such callers to avoid scams. If they call you, uncover their identities using reverse phone lookup tools and glean enough information during the conversation. You can report your encounter to a local law enforcement agency afterward.
What are Sumner? ?County? Tech Support Scams?
These are fraudulent acts perpetrated by scammers who pretend to be technical representatives of popular computer companies. Scammers may identify themselves as employees of Apple, Google, or Microsoft and offer targeted Sumner County residents fake technical support. If you receive this type of call, verify the caller's identity using any application that offers reverse phone lookup free service. Scammers use this scheme to steal residents' money and identities. Usually, they claim targets may have compromised their identities while surfing the internet on their computers or say there are virus infections on their PCs. These scammers do whatever it takes to convince targets into granting remote access to their computers to fix supposed issues for a fee. They often get marks to cooperate by telling them there are chances of losing all their files if not given prompt attention. Technical support scammers usually request credit card information for payments and may ask to be paid by wire transfers or gift cards.
Sumner County residents should be wary of these avoidable scams. Residents who grant unknown persons remote access to their computers expose themselves to the risk of identity and financial theft. Legitimate tech firms do not randomly call consumers or request payment for their services via odd methods. Conducting phone number searches on unfamiliar phone numbers calling Sumner County residents can prevent them from becoming victims of tech support scams.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are pre-recorded messages delivered by phone calls to a mass audience using auto-dialers. Auto dialers are software or devices that automatically dial phone numbers and with less or no human input. Robocalls are a type of scam calls and can sometimes be annoying, inundating, and invasive. Generally, spam calls are those irrelevant calls dispersed to phone users who did not give prior consent. Phone number lookup applications can help residents identify robocalls. Phone scammers have taken advantage of robocalls' wide-reaching capacity to rip off Sumner County residents, usually employing phone spoofing. Spoofed robocalls can, however, be detected using reverse cell phone lookup tools. You can reduce the frequency of robocalls coming through your phone by taking the following steps:
- End a phone call once you know it is a robocall. If you get to speak with a live person in a robocall, do not share any sensitive personal or financial information.
- Block robocalls by activating the call-blocking feature of your cell phone. Such a built-in feature identifies robocalls and screens them from interrupting you. You can also install any third-party call-blocking application for the same purpose.
- Add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry and Tennessee Do Not Call Program to reduce the number of robocalls. You can rest assured that any unsolicited call you get after registrations on these lists is a potential scam.
- File the reports of illegal robocalls or spam calls online with the FTC or call 1 (888) 382-1222.
How Can You Spot and Report Sumner County Phone Scams?
In a bid to earn trust and cheat Sumner County residents out of their money, scammers pretend to be with familiar legitimate businesses or government agencies. The responsibility of protecting and educating residents against phone scams lies with some relevant government agencies. That said, residents must always exercise caution when receiving phone calls from unknown phone numbers and even treat such calls as potential scam calls. Doing reverse phone lookups on suspicious phone numbers can prevent Sumner County residents from falling victim to phone scams. The following are some telltale signs of phone scams that you should know:
- The caller uses free bonuses as bait to persuade you to send money quickly.
- An unknown caller wants you to buy into their offers right away without a chance to think about them. Anyone with legitimate deals will not pressure you to make an on-the-spot decision on their proposition, however generous or attractive.
- The caller offers you a low-risk investment that provides unbelievably higher returns.
- The caller asks you a question such as "do you trust me?" or "can you hear me?" If you answer yes to such a question, especially by someone you do not know, chances are it is a scam call. Scammers use such responses to make fraudulent charges to their victims' credit cards and accounts.
- Someone you do not know calls you out of the blue and asks that you share personal information such as the social security number.
Relevant public agencies protecting and educating Sumner County residents against phone scams also encourage them to report phone scam incidents using their reporting platforms. They include:
Federal Communications Commission - The FCC guides residents on how to block unwanted robocalls and avoid phone scams. You may report phone spoofing scams and other scams to the FCC by calling 1 (888) 225-5322 or online.
Sumner County Sheriff's Office - The SCSO investigates reported phone scams in the county and works closely with other consumer protection agencies in combating the phone scams menace. Sumner County residents can file complaints with the SCSO by calling (615) 452-2616.
Tennessee Office of the Attorney General - The Division of Consumer Affairs of the OAG educates residents with consumer alerts and encourages them to report phone scam incidents online.
Federal Trade Commission - The FTC encourages residents to put their phone numbers on the DNC Registry to prevent robocall scams. To file phone scam complaints with the FTC, Sumner County residents can call 1 (888) 382-1222 or do so online.