Common Scam Phone Numbers & Area Codes to Avoid

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Protect your money and personal information from phone scammers

Co-authored by Israel Vieira Pereira, PhD and Dan Hickey

Last Updated: May 7, 2024 Fact Checked

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Area Codes to Avoid

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Types of Scams

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Protecting Yourself

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Reporting Scams

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Expert Interview

Constant phone calls from unknown numbers are more than just irritating. Calls from certain area codes inside and outside the US are more likely to be scams than innocent telemarketing, and answering or calling back these numbers can result in a loss of personal information or costly international calling fees. In this article, we’ll show you the most common domestic and international scam area codes to avoid answering calls from, plus the types of scams these callers use and how to protect yourself from fraud.

Things You Should Know

Ignore calls from 3-digit international area codes that are likely to be scams, including 232, 268, 284, 473, 664, 649, 767, 809, 829, 849, and 876.
Be wary of calls from unknown numbers with your own area code. These may be international caller ID spoof scams that appear local.
Sign up for the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry and ask your phone provider about robocalling blocking options to reduce the number of scam calls you get.

Section 1 of 4:

Most Common Scammer Area Codes

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Don’t answer unknown calls from these area codes. While any unknown phone number can be a potential scam, certain area codes appear more commonly. If you don’t recognize a phone number with these area codes, do not answer. The caller may be trying to get personal information from you or trying to make you call an international (likely Caribbean) number and rack up costly per-minute fees. Instead, check your voicemail afterward to see if it was a legitimate caller, or Google the phone number to see if it’s associated with any known scams. ^{[1]
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- International area codes to avoid:
 - 232: Sierra Leone
 - 268: Antigua and Barbuda
 - 284: British Virgin Islands
 - 473: Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique
 - 664: Montserrat
 - 649: Turks and Caicos Islands
 - 767: Commonwealth of Dominica
 - 809, 829, 849: Dominican Republic
 - 876: Jamaica
- Domestic area codes to avoid: ^{[2]
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 - 216: Cleveland, OH
 - 469: Dallas, TX
 - 657: La Palma, CA
 - 332, 347, 646: New York City, NY
 - 218: Northern Minnesota
 - 712: Western Iowa
- If you know someone from these areas, reach out to them directly with their last known phone number, by email, or on social media to confirm if it was them who called you.
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Ignore calls from unknown numbers using your area code. Some scam callers will “spoof” their identity so a phone number different from their own will appear on your caller ID (this is called caller ID spoofing). Scammers will often spoof the number so it begins with your own area code to look like the call is local or coming from someone you may know, even though it’s likely international or from someone seeking your personal information. ^{[3]
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Research source} In some cases, all but the last 4 digits of the phone number may resemble yours.
- If you don’t recognize a number with your area code, let the phone ring or end the call without answering to avoid the scam . If it’s someone who knows you, they’ll likely leave a voicemail and share their identity.
- Before calling back, listen to the caller’s voicemail (if they left one) to see if it’s someone you recognize. If not, Google the phone number itself—if it’s a scam, chances are someone has posted about it or flagged it on a scam phone number database.
- Caller ID spoofing can happen in any area code, but these are the US area codes where it occurs most frequently: ^{[4]
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 - 602, 623: Phoenix, AZ
 - 214: Dallas, TX
 - 832: Houston, TX
 - 210: San Antonio, TX
 - 404, 678: Atlanta, GA
 - 704: Charlotte, NC
 - 702: Las Vegas, NV
 - 407: Orlando, FL