What are Alexandria City Area Codes?
An area code is a three-digit prefix appended to a telephone number indicating the geographical area associated with the number. An area code can also indicate how long the number has been in use in an area and whether it is a landline or a wireless number. You can find the area code of an area in the United States by using area code lookup tools online.
Two area codes currently serve Alexandria City – Area codes 703 and 571
Area Code 703
Area code 703 is one of the original 86 area codes created by AT&T and the Bell Systems in 1947. Initially, it served the whole of the State of Virginia but was split in 1995 to create area code 540. It is overlaid by area code 571 and serves Arlington, Alexandria, Centreville, Dale City, Reston, McLean, and Ashburn.
Area Code 571
Area code 571 was first used on March 1, 2000, and was created from area code 703. It is an overlay for area code 703 and serves the same areas.
What Are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Alexandria City?
The majority of telephone users in Alexandria City subscribe to wireless telephony service. As revealed in a 2018 survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, 49.1% of Virginia residents aged 18 and above used wireless-only telephony service, while 4.9% used landline-only telephone service. Among individuals under the age of 18, 62.3% used wireless telephony exclusively, while 2.3% used landline-only telephony service.
Although many features and factors are considered when signing up for a cell phone plan, the most salient should be the overall coverage in your local area. A plan may be cheap and offer attractive features, but will not be best suited to you if the provider’s service in your area results in uncompleted calls or epileptic service. Fortunately, all four major wireless service providers offer decent coverage in Alexandria City. These carriers factor minutes, text messages, and data usage in MB or GB in all cell phone plans on offer.
In Alexandria City, T-Mobile has the best overall coverage with a 90% score. AT&T and Verizon each have a coverage score of 90%, while Sprint has a coverage score of 76%.
Apart from these major Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Alexandria City residents can also purchase cell phone plans from Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) offering phone plans in the city. An MVNO is an operator that does not have its own radio network. MVNOs rely on the radio networks of other operators, usually the MNOs, to provide mobile communication services to their users.
While many businesses in Alexandria City use VoIP service services as their primary telephony option, VoIP service providers also offer plans for residential users. VoIP refers to Voice over Internet Protocol and unlike other alternatives, converts voice into data for transmission over the internet. You can use a VoIP service anywhere a broadband Internet connection is available, which is useful for frequent travelers, such as business people.
What Are Alexandria City Phone Scams?
Alexandria City phone scams are telephone scams perpetrated by fraudsters to con Alexandria City residents out of their money or to obtain their personal information to commit fraud. The deceptions can range from perpetrators pretending to be from targets' banks to selling them goods or services that do not exist or are substandard. Phone scams can occur through live telephone calls, robocalls, and text messages. You can use free reverse phone lookup tools to verify the identity of the person behind a call. Common phone scams in Alexandria City include IRS scams, utility scams, lottery scams, and law enforcement impersonation scams.
What are Alexandria City IRS Scams?
The IRS call can happen in a variety of ways. Commonly, it begins with a phone call from someone purporting to work with the Internal Revenue Service. The call may come from a live person or through a recorded call, often with poor sound quality where the person on the other end does not sound like a native English speaker. The fraudsters inform targets that they are receiving “final notices" from the IRS for tax payments that are past due.
These scammers may leave callback numbers for their targets to reach them for more information. When targets call back, they are threatened with arrests, deportation, or revocation of licenses if they do not pay up immediately. Payments are often requested by wire transfers, gift cards, reloadable cards, and cryptocurrencies.
Many IRS scam calls originate outside of the United States. You may conduct a “reverse phone lookup international” search online to verify the source of such calls. A “reverse phone lookup USA” search will help track the origin of a call placed within the United States.
What are Alexandria City Utility Scams?
Utility scams are illegitimate acts where the perpetrators pretend to be representatives of utility companies in order to steal money or sell unnecessary utility accessories. Typically, utility scams involve fraudsters informing the target that they owe money in unpaid bills to power, gas, or water companies. These impostors claim that utilities will be shut off or disconnected immediately unless payments are made.
In a recent twist to the utility scam, scammers call unsuspecting residents and inform them that they qualify for discounts on their utility bills if they provide customer-specific information such as utility account numbers. After obtaining the required information, a scammer uses it to perpetrate other fraudulent activities. Reverse phone number lookup applications can prevent residents from falling victim to utility scams.
What are Alexandria City Lottery Scams?
Many lottery scams originate from outside the United States. You may receive a phone call from someone purporting to represent a known lottery organization within the United States or a less-known lottery organization outside the United States. Typically, the caller says you have been selected as a winner in a category of a lottery competition. The winning ranges from smartphones to luxurious vacations across the world. In order to avoid targets being suspicious of their schemes, many lottery scammers refrain from informing targets that they won the ultimate prizes in the lotteries. To claim your prize or special offer, you are told to transfer funds to cover tax, insurance, processing, or shipping. At other times, these crooked persons ask for bank account information for them to directly deposit lump sum winnings.
Sometimes, lottery scammers send checks as part of winning notices. They inform targets to deposit the checks into their bank accounts and return some amount to cover the associated fees and taxes. These checks ultimately bounce, but the transferred funds cannot be retrieved, being drawn from the victims’ bank accounts. Phone lookup applications can help uncover the true identities of scam callers.
What are Alexandria City Law Enforcement Impersonation Scams?
In the law enforcement impersonation scam, callers identify themselves as law enforcement officers and even use official-sounding titles. They may state that targets missed jury duties, have outstanding warrants, failed to pay fines, or did not appear in court on summons. The consequence for any of these purported offenses is that the target must pay immediately. The perpetrators may even threaten to have targets arrested unless they give them money or provide them credit card or gift card information.
In addition to demanding payment and threatening arrest, the con artists may also attempt to obtain personal information, credit card information, and bank account information from targets. To verify that callers are who they say they are, you can use good reverse phone lookup tools online to quickly do a number lookup or reverse number lookup.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Spam calls are various kinds of unwanted incoming calls that typically market products and services. Their goal is to get recipients to purchase some goods or sign up for marketed services. Although these calls are unsolicited, some are actually genuine. While spam calls can originate from live persons, spam calls can also be robocalls. The difference is that instead of speaking with a live agent, you are responding to a bot or listening to a prerecorded message. These messages may be providing unnecessary information, advertising products, or in many instances, trying to scam the recipients.
In 2020, over 1.2 billion robocalls were placed to Virginia residents. Between January and April 2021, these residents had received over 470 million robocalls, an average of 63 robocalls per person. To limit the chances of being fleeced by robocalls placed by scammers, you may use reverse phone lookup tools to verify the identity of incoming calls.
Other steps to take to stop robocalls include:
- Hang up on robocalls. If you answer a call and hear a prerecorded message, hang up immediately. Do not press any button or number. That could lead to you receiving more calls from crooked individuals.
- Avoid answering calls from unknown numbers.
- Do not provide or confirm personal or financial information to anyone over the phone, as the request may be fraudulent.
- Contact your telephone provider. Some providers offer call screening or call blocking products, including services that can help conduct a suspicious phone number lookup or reverse phone lookup.
- Download and install a third-party call-blocking application on your mobile phone such as Nomorobo, Truecaller, Hiya, and YouMail.
- Report unwanted calls online to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or call (888) 382-1222.
- Install a good reverse phone lookup tool on your phone to find out who called and who the number is registered to.
- Register your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry maintained by the FTC. Registration is free and can be done by calling (888) 382-1222 from the number you intend to register.
How to Spot and Report Alexandria City Phone Scams?
Phone scammers are becoming smarter by the day with their attacks becoming more complex. In today’s digital age, you should get familiar with the cons used by scammers to obtain personal data and money. You may use tools such as reverse phone numbers lookup services to identify potential phone scams. You should also be aware of the following red flags when you answer phone calls:
- The caller wants you to make an immediate decision. A common trick used by con artists to hurry targets into making immediate decisions without verifying their information or claims from other sources. Reputable entities will not insist on call recipients making decisions on the spot. Do not allow yourself to be coerced into transferring funds or divulging sensitive information without doing due diligence.
- The caller informs you about an offer, prize, or grant that you did not apply for. Scammers try to lure targets in with promises of huge winnings and money. The catch however is that they have to pay a "processing fee" or "tax" to obtain the prize or grant.
- The caller demands payment today: Scammers often insist on same-day payments and threaten targets with varying penalties if they fail to meet the deadline. While creditors and reputable organizations like to receive payment for outstanding debts as quickly as possible, they will not insist on same-day payments.
- The caller does not accept various forms of payment: Scammers typically ask targets to send money through MoneyGram, PayPal, Western Union, and gift cards. That way, their identities can remain largely unknown. Do not send money to unverified accounts.
- The caller is abnormally harassing and insulting: Fraudsters often use aggressive language and intimidating acts to get targets to cooperate. They may threaten them with deportation, arrests, or imprisonment to coerce them into doing their bidding.
Although being aware of the tricks used by scammers will not stop you from being targeted by phone scammers, using tools that perform reverse phone number lookups can further reduce the chances of being scammed. You can file complaints in Alexandria City with any of the following public bodies if you have been contacted by a scammer:
- Alexandria City Sheriff’s Office and local police departments: If you receive a scam call in Alexandria City, you can report it to your local police department or the sheriff’s office by calling at (703) 746-4114. You can also contact the Alexandria City Police Department at (703) 746-4444.
- The Virginia Attorney General’s Office: To report a scam, you can file a complaint online to the Attorney General’s Office or use the downloadable printable complaint form. For further assistance, you can call the Office's Consumer Protection Hotline at (800) 552-9963 if calling from Virginia, or (804) 786-2042 if calling from the Richmond area or from outside Virginia. The Office's business hours are between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
- Federal Communications Commission: If you receive unwanted robocalls and text messages, you can file a report online with the FCC.
- Federal Trade Commission - The FTC protects consumers from deceptive and fraudulent practices. You can file a phone scam report with the FTC by completing the online complaint form.
- The United States Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TITGA): If you have been contacted by an IRS scammer, contact the TITGA by calling the office at (800) 366-4484.