What are Penobscot County Area Codes?
There is only one area code serving the entirety of Penobscot County. This is area code 207. An area code is a three-digit code designating a numbering plan area (NPA). When AT&T created the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in 1947, it divided North America into NPAs corresponding to geographic locations. Therefore, a set of US phone numbers assigned in the same NPA have the same area code. The NANP assigned area codes to these NPAs to simplify call routing and switching across North American telephone networks. In a typical 10-digit American phone number, the area code is the first three digits.
Area Code 207
Created in 1947, area code 207 is one the original 86 area codes introduced alongside the NANP in 1947. It covers the entirety of Maine except the northernmost part, the village of Estcourt Station. Area code 207 has never been split or overlaid and is not expected to be exhausted until 2025. Communities in Penobscot County served by this area code include Brewer, Bangor, and Old Town.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Penobscot County?
Less than half of the residents of Maine have switched completely from landlines to wireless phones. Most of them still used a combination of both telecommunication devices. This is one of the conclusions of a 2018 survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. The results of the survey show that 47.7% of the adult residents of Maine used wireless phones exclusively while 6.7% still used landline phones solely. In contrast, most of the minors residing in Maine have made the jump to wireless phones. About 63% of the residents of the state under the age of 18 answered the survey as wireless-only phone users.
Compared to other states, cell phone coverage in Maine is lower. Among the carriers providing phone services in the state, Verizon has the most extensive network but only covers 59.3% of the state. AT&T and T-Mobile cover 46.6% and 31.6% of Maine. Besides national carriers, Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) also sell cell phone plans in Maine and Penobscot County. These are smaller, regional carriers that share and lease network infrastructure from major carriers. MVNOs can offer cheaper cell phone plans because they buy network services in bulk from major national carriers and then pass some of the savings to their subscribers.
Residents of Penobscot County can also sign up for phone services provided by VoIP operators. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a communication technology that delivers phone services over the internet. It transmits voice signals as data packets and also enables video calls. VoIP phone services are cheaper for residents and organizations with broadband internet access. Long-distance calls are also cheaper with VoIP phone services than landline and cell phone services.
What are Penobscot County Phone Scams?
These are fraudulent schemes, perpetrated using phone services and tools, targeting the people and organizations in Penobscot County. Fraudsters often contact victims and run their scams with calls and text messages. They use robocalls and spam calls to find new targets for their cons. Some fraudsters use sophisticated phone tools such as caller ID spoofing and phishing to deceive their targets in order to defraud them and steal other valuables such as their personal and financial information.
Residents of Penobscot can avoid phone scams and scammers by learning how to properly use call blocking and reverse phone number lookup. In addition to these anti-scam tools, they should also keep up with the latest news and trends in phone scams in their communities. The Office of the Maine Attorney General publishes helpful tips on scams and identifies commonly reported scams in the state including advance fee loan scams, grandparent scams, lottery and sweepstakes scams, and tax scams.
What are Penobscot County Advance Fee Loan Scams?
Fraudsters target people who have fallen on hard times and could not obtain loans from banks with these scams. Their targets include those who have lost their jobs, those who are bankrupt, and those with bad credits. An advance fee loan scam starts with a call from a stranger offering a loan and claiming the target will qualify regardless of their credit score. While pretending to process the loan, the bogus lender asks the target to send a loan processing fee. Depending on the loan requested, this fee may run into hundreds and thousands of dollars. After collecting this fee, the scammer stops communicating with their victim.
Residents of Penobscot County can avoid advance fee loan scams by refusing to pay advance fees to anyone promising to help them obtain loans. Such fees should only be paid after loans are approved. If contacted by a prospective lender, make sure to confirm their identity with a free reverse phone number lookup. This will show you if the caller has a good track record or is likely a scammer. Make sure to read the terms of such loans before applying for them.
What are Penobscot County Grandparent Scams?
So named because they mostly target elderly residents and involve fraudsters claiming they are their targets’ grandkids, grandparent scams exploit familial love and rely on secrecy. In a grandparent scam, the impostor asks their victim for immediate financial assistance for a claimed emergency. They may claim to need the money to get out of jail, fly home from a foreign country where they are stuck, or pay for hospital bills after a mishap. The scammer asks their victim to keep the matter a secret from other family members for fear of further embarrassment or claiming they would get in more trouble.
The Attorney General of Maine advises residents to resist the urge to send money to anyone calling out of the blue without first verifying their identities and claims. If contacted in this way, call the loved one directly with the number saved on your phone to confirm that they are indeed the one who called. You should also call other family members to confirm the caller’s claims even if they begged for secrecy. Use a phone number lookup to confirm the caller’s identity and their location. This search may show that the caller is a stranger and not a loved one. It may also show that they are not where they claim they are.
What are Penobscot County Lottery and Sweepstakes Scams?
These scams get their victims excited about winning huge amounts in lotteries and sweepstakes. Oftentimes, victims have never heard of, or even entered in, the lotteries scammers claim they won. A lottery scam starts with a call congratulating the target on winning a lottery. Towards the end of the call, the fraudster slips in that the “winner” has to send money to cover taxes, legal fees, and other processing fees before claiming their prize.
Lottery scams are easy to spot. First, it is illegal to ask lottery winners to pay up before claiming their winnings. Secondly, a legitimate lottery organization can easily take processing fees from the top of the prize money. To foil a lottery scam, use a suspicious phone number lookup to identify the caller. This search will likely show that the caller is not affiliated with the organizer of the lottery or sweepstakes they claim you won.
What are Penobscot County Tax Scams?
These are also impostor scams with scammers pretending to work for the IRS. An IRS impersonator calls to claim that you owe back taxes or wrongly filed your returns. They try to scare you with threats of immediate arrest and prosecution. The caller may also claim to work for the Department of Treasury or law enforcement. IRS impersonation scams are usually rude and quick to threaten their targets. However, some of them sound nice and helpful on the phone. These fraudsters call to tell their victims that they qualify for tax refunds and then ask for their personal information to verify identities and process the refunds. Such scammers steal their victims’ identities and financial information.
Penobscot County residents can avoid tax scams by understanding how the IRS works. The IRS does not initiate contact, ask for owed taxes, or confirm tax refunds with phone calls. They do these with mail correspondences. Therefore, if anyone calls you claiming they are from the IRS, hang up the phone and try to identify them with a reverse phone lookup. Report such callers to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
These are unwanted and unsolicited phone calls usually placed in large numbers and targeting lots of phone users. Robocalls are placed by auto-dialers delivering pre-recorded messages. Telemarketers, political campaigns, charities, and other approved public organizations use such automated calls to reach large sections of the population. Robocalls are commonly used because they are low-cost mass communication tools that are easy to set up and require very little additional effort to keep running.
Like robocalls, spam calls are also bulk calls. However, they are likely to be placed by human agents delivering messages according to prepared scripts. American phone users receive lots of illegal robocalls and spam calls every year. To stop these unwanted calls, residents of Penobscot County should consider taking the following steps:
- Hang up a robocall or spam call as soon as you realize what it is
- Do not follow instructions given during robocalls and spam calls on how to stop receiving these calls. Such prompts do not remove your number from the callers’ list but sends more of such calls your way
- Do not answer calls from unknown numbers. Let them go to voicemail where you can review them later and decide which ones to return
- Use the call filtering feature of your smartphone to block calls from unknown or blacklisted numbers. You may also ask your carrier if they offer call blocking services. There are also reputable third-party apps that can block calls from numbers flagged for phone spam and scams
- Identify unknown callers with reverse phone lookup. If you suspect they are phone scammers, spammers, or stalkers, provide the details discovered in your reports to law enforcement
- Register your number on the National Do Not Call Registry to stop receiving telemarketing calls. Legitimate telemarketers will stop reaching out after 31 days of adding your phone number to this registry. Robocalls and spam calls received after then can be disregarded or reported
How to Spot and Report Penobscot County Phone Scams?
While there are many types of telephone frauds, each with different variations, they all share certain defining traits. Scammers are on the prowl with the sole aim of defrauding unsuspecting residents and stealing their personal information. Therefore, regardless of the tactics used by these fraudsters, they must find ways to deceive their victims into releasing money or information. To avoid phone scams, residents of Penobscot County should look out for the following signs of telephone fraud:
- Threatening bad consequences - impostors threaten the targets of their scams with arrest, jail, deportation, loss of their homes, and revocation of business, professional, and driver’s licenses. Scammers use such threats to scare their victims and force them to send payments or release confidential information
- Using aggressive sales tactics - fraudsters running consumer scams pressure their targets to send payments quickly and give them very little time to consider the merits of their offers. They tell victims that they will miss out on great deals if they do not place their orders immediately or offer steep discounts for those paying immediately
- Asking for payment via unofficial channels - while impersonating authority figures, scammers ask their victims to send money directly to them rather than the organizations they claim to represent. They may ask for payments in cash or by wire transfer, prepaid debit cards, gift cards, cryptocurrencies, and mobile app transfers
- Refusing to provide documents backing their claims and proving their identities - scammers do not want paper trail evidence of their frauds. Therefore, they balk at providing written documentation supporting their claims and demands or establishing their real identities
Residents that observe one or more of these signs should stop communicating with scammers and identify them using phone number search. They can provide the information gathered in their reports to law enforcement and consumer protection agencies. Reporting phone scams to the authorities is important whether these scams were successful or not. Scam reports help law enforcement bring fraudsters to justice and contribute to public awareness about their tricks and methods. Residents of Penobscot County can report phone scams to the following agencies:
- The Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Maine Attorney General - as the state’s consumer protection agency, this Division investigates reports of consumer scams and mediates fraud claims between residents and businesses. Residents of Penobscot County can report consumer scams to the Division by completing and submitting this complaint form, calling (207) 626-8849 or (800) 436-2131, or emailing consumer.mediation@maine.gov
- The Treasury Inspector General Administration (TIGTA) - this is the agency tasked with investigating IRS scams including impersonation scams in which the fraudsters claim to represent the IRS. Residents can submit their IRS impersonation scam complaints with the TIGTA online
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - the FTC protects American consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices and investigates consumer scams. Report a telephone fraud involving a consumer transaction to the FTC by calling (877) 382-4357 or filing a fraud complaint on the Commission’s website
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - the FCC is responsible for regulating all communication in the country. Its responsibilities include maintaining and enforcing the National Do Not Call Registry and overseeing the telecommunication sector. Residents of Penobscot County can report illegal robocalls, spam calls, phishing, and caller ID spoofing to the FCC. They can also visit the FCC’s Consumer Complaint Center to report phone scams