What are Wilson County Area Codes?
The North American Numbering Plan is the phone numbering system used in world zone 1. It was created in 1947 and implemented in 1951. The plan divides North America into numbering plan areas that are identified by area codes. Area codes are the three-digit numbers that precede all phone numbers in North America. The North American Numbering Plan Administration was empowered by the Federal Communications Commission to manage the numbering plan. The Tennessee Public Utility Commission is responsible for regulating telecom services in the State of Tennessee.
Wilson County is served by the area codes 615 and 629 service overlay. This mandates ten-digit dialing in the county.
Area Code 615
Area code 615 was officially brought into service on the 1st of January 1954. It was created from the split of area code 901. Area code 615 has been split twice to form area code 423 in 1995 and area code 931 in 1997. It covers several towns and cities, including Lebanon and Mt Juliet.
Area Code 629
Area code 629 was officially brought into service on the 28th of March 2015. The area code is a service overlay with area code 615. Therefore it serves the same geographical location as area code 615.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Wilson County?
The three main wireless providers in Wilson County are Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Verizon is the best wireless provider in the county, and it covers 88% of the county. This is closely followed by T-Mobile, which covers 82% of the county. Finally, the sprint covers 62% of the county, making it the wireless service provider with the least coverage in Wilson County.
There are numerous Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Wilson County. These MVNOs function with the infrastructure provided by the major wireless service providers guaranteeing sufficient wireless coverage in the county. Note that many of these MVNOs focus on providing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to residents and businesses in Wilson County. VoIP is an internet telephony technology that allows voice calls to be made over internet broadband connections. VoIP has gained significant acceptance in Wilson County because it offers a cheaper, more reliable, and flexible wireless communications option for residents.
Generally, there is a greater preference for wireless phone services to traditional landlines. This was illustrated in the 2018 National Center for Health Statistics Survey. The survey indicated that 61.2% of adult Tennesseans relied exclusively on wireless phone services for their communication needs, while 3.7% of adult Tennesseans used traditional landlines. Similarly, 71.4% of minors in the state used wireless phones exclusively, and 1.6% of minors in the state used traditional landlines exclusively. The survey also captured that 9.6% of adults and 5.5% of minors in the state relied on the combined use of wireless phone services and traditional landlines.
What are Wilson County Phone Scams?
Wilson County phone scams are criminal acts that scammers commit to obtain money, personal, or financial information fraudulently from Wilson County residents. These scammers use different schemes like fake lotteries, fake businesses, investment opportunities, and fraudulent charities to defraud residents of Wilson County. They often use caller ID spoofing tools to manipulate residents’ caller IDs, making their numbers mimic legitimate businesses and government agencies. These dubious individuals also use robocalls to expand the reach of their scams to a wider victim pool. Wilson County residents should remain alert to the threat posed by these dubious individuals. They should employ the use of tools such as reverse phone number lookup services and suspicious phone number lookup services to screen phone calls.
What are Wilson County Jury Duty Scams?
Dubious individuals are going around making calls to Wilson County residents. These individuals use caller ID spoofing tools to make their phone numbers seem like that of the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office. During the call, these impostors identify themselves as deputies working with the Sheriff’s Office. They proceed to inform county residents that there are warrants for their arrests or fines they need to pay for their missing jury duties. These scams generally exploit the ignorance that prevails in Wilson County regarding jury duty laws. These dubious individuals use threats of arrests to scare residents. Once they have residents worried, they proceed to request payment in the form of cash dropoff, MoneyGram, cash apps, or Western Union.
The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office has informed residents that missing jury duty is not grounds for an immediate arrest. They have also notified residents that the Sheriff’s Office will not call residents to demand any sort of payment. Residents need to employ the use of relevant tools such as reverse phone number lookup services and phone number lookup services to identify who called.
What are Wilson County IRS Tax Scams?
Wilson County IRS tax scams exploit the ignorance of Wilson County residents concerning tax laws and their provisions. To perpetrate this scam, scammers use caller ID spoofing tools to call Wilson County residents posing as employees of the IRS office. These caller ID spoofing tools give residents the impression that they are speaking to legitimate tax officers. During the calls, the scammers use threats and intimidation tactics to put residents under pressure. They often claim that residents did not file their tax returns correctly. The scammers also insist that residents owe some back taxes. They then threaten residents with arrests if they fail to make certain payments, which they claim are fines for improper filings. These individuals ask residents to make the payments in the form of gift cards, iTunes cards, and other unconventional means of payments.
Wilson County residents should note that the IRS will never request payments over the phone. They also need to be informed that the IRS office will never contact residents via telephone calls. The IRS specifies that the primary means by which the IRS contacts residents is via postal mail.
Finally, residents should employ services such as free number lookup services or reverse phone lookup services to vet suspicious phone numbers.
What are Wilson County Social Security Scams?
Wilson County social security scams exploit the delicate nature with which Wilson County residents deal with their social security benefits. Scammers use caller ID spoofing tools to impersonate officers of the Social Security Administration (SSA). At times, these scammers use threats and intimidations to scare residents. They claim that the residents failed to make payments to their social security accounts, and as such, their accounts will be suspended. They often tell residents that in order to avoid having their accounts suspended, they will need to pay certain fines. These fines are requested in the form of cash drop-offs, gift cards, and cash apps. On other occasions, the scammers claim that residents are qualified for extra benefits, but they will need to make some additional payments to access such benefits.
The SSA has informed residents that they will never call residents to request immediate payments for any social security-related issues. Residents that receive such calls should report the cases to the Office of the Inspector General. Finally, residents should note that services like phone number lookup are very useful in uncovering masked caller IDs.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
A robocall is an automated call that delivers a prerecorded message. It generally refers to any call that is sent out to a large number of people. The legality of the use of robocalls is centered on the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The act seeks to protect the public and private safety concerns of all telephone subscribers. Per the act, all robocallers must properly identify themselves at the start of the call and also share a contact phone number where they can be reached. Many organizations like polling agencies, tax-exempt non-profit organizations, and political campaign offices use legal robocalls to reach their targets. Also, telemarketers and dubious individuals often exploit the anonymity and reach provided by robocalls to defraud county residents.
Spam calls refer to all unnecessary and inappropriate calls sent out to many individuals without their consent. These calls are usually infuriating.
Wilson County residents need to be enlightened on some of the recommended best practices in dealing with illegal robocalls.
Here are some best practices in dealing with illegal robocalls:
- Ignore calls from unknown numbers. However, if you accidentally pick and discover it is a robocall, hang up immediately. It is also important that you do not follow any prompts to take further actions during or after the call.
- Make use of call blocking solutions to block unwanted calls. Some of these tools are accessible online for mobile phone users or from telephone service providers.
- Use tools and services like reverse phone number lookup services and phone number lookup services to find out who called.
- Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and file a complaint.
- Get your phone number registered with the National Do Not Call Registry.
How Can You Spot and Report Wilson County Phone Scams?
The level of sophistication employed by dubious individuals to defraud Wilson County residents makes it increasingly difficult for residents to combat the menace of phone scams effectively. Therefore, residents often use advanced tools, such as call blocking solutions, phone number lookup services, etc., to combat this menace. However, Wilson County officials have recommended education and information as the best ways to combat these phone scams. They have also highlighted some indicators that very often are indicative of phone scams.
To spot phone scams, residents need to look out for:
- Callers who make use of aggressive sales tactics and try to pressure residents into making impulsive decisions
- Callers who propose business opportunities that have low risks and extremely high returns on investments
- Callers who request residents’ personal information by claiming to guide them through a verification process over the phone
- Callers who make request payments via bitcoins, cash apps, and gift cards.
- Automated calls from organizations that you have never contacted
- Callers who use a lot of threats and intimidations on phone calls.
When residents are unable to identify or deal with these phone scams, they can contact state and county agencies to file complaints.
Here are some state and county agencies that deal with phone scams.
- The Lebanon City Police Department - The Lebanon City Police department handles phone scam and identity theft complaints. Complaints can be filed in person at:
Lebanon Tennessee Police Department
1017 Sparta Pike
Lebanon, TN 37087
Phone: (615) 444-2323
- The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office - Complaint of phone scams and identity theft may be filed in person at the Sheriff’s Office located at:
The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office
105 East High Street
Lebanon, TN 37087
Phone: (615) 444-1412
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - The FCC regulates communications in the United States. They also treat all consumer complaints of illegal robocalls and other phone scams online.
- The Tennessee State Attorney General’s Office - The Consumer Protection Department of the State Attorney General’s Office handles complaints of illegal robocalls and scam calls. Reports can be filed online or made in person at:
The Tennessee Attorney General Office
The Division of Consumer Affairs
John Sevier State Building
500 Charlette Avenue
Nashville, TN 37219
Phone: (615) 741-3491
- Federal Trade Commission - Complaints of phone scams and fraud can be filed to the FTC. These complaints can be made online or by phone by calling 1-877-ID-Theft and 1-877-FTC-HELP.