If an unknown number calls and starts with these three numbers, the scam has begun
Telephone scams cost Americans billions of dollars. One method that crooks use involves getting you to call them through the ‘one-ring-and-cut’ method.
The Federal Trade Commission says that Americans lost $10 billion dollars to scammers in 2023. The agency provides a long list of methods that crooks use to get money out of their victims.
One that has been on the rise in recent years is called ‘Wangiri’, Japanese for “one-ring-and-cut,” which involves crooks calling from abroad. They let your phone ring once or twice and then hang up. The scammers are banking on your curiosity getting the better of you and that you’ll return the call.
If you do so, it could be a costly mistake. The thieves will try to keep you on the line for as long as possible while you get billed an extravagant per-minute fee which will show up on your phone bill as “premium services.”
Watch out for unknown calls that begin with these three numbers
US area codes consist of three digits but the country code itself is just the number “1.” However, there are a number of countries that have three-digit country codes which may fool unsuspecting individuals. Some of the country codes that you should watch out for include:
- 225: Ivory Coast
- 232: Sierra Leone
- 233: Ghana
- 234: Nigeria
- 242: Bahamas
- 268: Antigua and Barbuda
- 284: British Virgin Islands
- 355: Albania
- 375: Belarus
- 473: Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique
- 649: Turks and Caicos Islands
- 767: Commonwealth of Dominica
- 809: British Virgin Islands
- 829: Dominican Republic
- 849: Dominican Republic
- 876: Jamaica
Some area codes you should be weary of are from inside the United States too. According to GoBankingRates, these are some of the domestic area codes you should on the lookout for:
- 216: Cleveland, Ohio
- 218: Northern Minnesota
- 332: New York City
- 347: New York City
- 469: Dallas, Texas
- 646: Manhattan
- 657: La Palma, California
- 712: Western Iowa
Criminals have gotten more sophisticated in the methods that they use to call potential victims. Nowadays they can even make any name or number show up on your caller ID, a technique known as ‘spoofing’.
The FTC says whether it is a scammer calling or an illegal robocall that you should just hang up. Don’t bother pressing any buttons in an attempt to talk to a live operator or have your number removed from their list, you may just be inviting more robocalls.
Being signed up to the National Do Not Call Registry won’t stop crooks from calling. The agency recommends using call blocking as your best defense against these nefarious actors.
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