What are Madison County Area Codes?
Area codes differentiate each Numbering Plan Area (NPA) in a state as instituted by the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). They are the series of three numbers that begin North American telephone numbers. In Indiana, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) administers area codes as delegated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Madison County currently has only one active area code.
Area Code 765
Created from a split of the 317 NPA and put into service in 1997, area code 765 serves several counties in Indiana. Madison County cities and towns within area code 765 include Anderson, Lapel, Pendleton, Elwood, Frankton, Alexandria, Markleville.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Madison County?
Madison County is served by all four major phone carriers. They all offer the best cell phone plans within the county but have varying coverage strengths. The incorporated cities enjoy better network services than the towns and villages. Sprint offers the best service in the City of Anderson, with about 94% coverage. Verizon provides about 86% coverage, while AT&T covers 80% of the city. T-Mobile does not have a significant presence in Andersons but does in some other parts of the county.
Madison County residents have a preference for cell phones as telephony devices. A 2018 CDC survey showed that only a small part of Indiana's total population still used landline-only telephony services. The survey revealed that only about 4.0% of the adult population used landlines solely for telephone services. An estimated 63.3% had adopted wireless-only services. The data also showed that children (under 18 years) who used wireless-only telephone services made up 75.4% of the total children population. Only 2.4% of them were exclusive landline users as of that year.
Madison County residents are leveraging broadband services for communication. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a telephony service choice that transmits data over internet connections. It supports audio calling, text messaging, and video conferencing at more affordable rates than other traditional telephony services.
What are Madison County Phone Scams?
Madison County phone scams are fraudulent activities carried out over the phone to get unsuspecting county residents to part with their money or disclose personal information. Phone scammers employ various tricks to extort targets, but reverse phone lookup services can help residents discover and avoid them. In most instances, fraudsters claim to be who they are not, to gain targets' confidence before ripping them off. They may impersonate employees of familiar government agencies or claim to be with legitimate businesses.
Phone scammers are heavy phone spoofing users. Phone spoofing helps them manipulate their marks' Caller IDs to display phone numbers other than theirs, a ploy to get them to answer their phones. However, reverse phone number lookup applications can identify spoofed phone calls and prevent residents from falling victim to scams. The Indiana Attorney General's Office (AG) has a duty of protecting Indianans from phone scams and other fraudulent activities within the state. The most prevalent phone scams in Madison County include:
What are Madison County Grant Scams?
The FTC warns the general public never to pay anyone who promises a free government grant. Legitimate grant agencies do not solicit money from residents to process government grants. Running phone numbers of suspicious callers who claim you are eligible for government grants through free reverse phone lookup services can help you avoid scams. Scammers are contacting Madison County residents and pretending to be federal government agencies' employees in charge of grant administration. They often make up official-sounding names to fool their targets into believing they are credible. In most cases, such agencies do not exist. Their primary aim is to get them to send money or share personal information, or both.
During such calls, they will inform their marks that they were selected to benefit from government grants, which they will never have to pay back. To take advantage of the purported opportunity, the callers will request some personal information. Such information usually includes social security numbers and bank account details. They will also demand some money to cover processing fees. These scammers favor payment by wire transfer and gift cards. If you get such a call, make sure to look up the name of the agency referenced in the phone call to find out if they exist. You can also search the caller's phone number on a phone number lookup application to check; "who is this number registered to?' Madison County residents who are contacted with these types of claims are advised never to share confidential information with the callers to avoid getting fleeced.
What are Madison County Debt Collection Scams?
Scammers pretend to be employees of familiar and legitimate debt collection agencies and accuse unsuspecting Madison County residents of debts. Most persons who get these calls do not owe any creditor but may be coerced to make payments. Debt collection agencies buy over delinquent debts from legitimate creditors and then go after debtors to recover such debts. However, it is not all debt collection efforts that are legitimate. Scammers are taking advantage of this process to extort uninformed residents. Residents who are familiar with phone number search services are less likely to fall victim to these scams. These scammers usually sound convincing when they call and demand payments via odd channels. Their preferred payment options include gift cards, cash, and wire transfers. The callers usually threaten to arrest residents who protest such claims. In some cases, they will warn them of revealing such debts to their employers or loved ones if they fail to pay immediately.
If you receive this type of call and know that you owe money, probe the caller to provide further information about your debt until you are convinced. A caller who cannot provide accurate information is likely a scammer, and you should not hesitate to end such a call. Reverse phone lookup applications can return valuable information on the caller and aid in filing your complaint with local law enforcement or other relevant agencies. Never give in to the pressure of sending money to these fraudsters, especially if you do not owe money to any creditor.
What are Madison County Jury Duty Scams?
The Madison County Sheriff's Department (MCSD) warns residents of phone scams in which fraudsters are impersonating their deputies to extort unsuspecting residents. The scammers often allege that targets missed jury duty and then threaten them with extreme actions. They aim to obtain confidential information and steal money. The callers will request personal information for supposed verifications and then offer to help resolve the issues in exchange for money. Residents who share such information will expose themselves to identity and financial fraud. These scammers have a preference for receiving payments by gift cards and wire transfers. They are fond of scaring targets during these calls by using legal terms such as contempt of court.
In most cases, they obtain targets’ cooperation by promising to return their money once they appear in court at other times for jury duty. Although these scammers favor phone spoofing to appear legitimate, reverse phone lookup applications can help residents identify them and avoid jury duty scams. Madison County residents should know that the MCSD officers will not contact them regarding missed jury duty or solicit money to cancel arrests. If someone calls you purportedly from the MCSD to request confidential information and then threatens you with arrest for not willing to comply with their request, such a person is most likely a scammer.
What are Madison County Social Security Scams?
Scammers pretending to be with the Social Security Administration (SSA) are using phone calls to steal money and obtain personal information from uninformed Madison County residents. They usually spoof targets' Caller IDs to display the official phone numbers of the SSA and appear legitimate. In many instances of this scam scheme, targets hear background voices during their conversation in what may seem like a call site. However, this is all part of the plan to appear credible, but applications offering reverse phone lookup free services can uncover the callers' malicious plots. The scammers also use fake names and SSA badge numbers when preying on their targets.
These scams have many variations. The scammers may claim the SSA wants to update targets' information and request that they verify their Social Security Numbers (SSN) and other confidential data. They may even recite the last four digits of their targets' SSNs to gain their trust. Targets who hesitate to provide the required information are often threatened with immediate suspension of the benefits associated with social security numbers. Madison County residents who fall victim to social security scams can file complaints with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), SSA, by calling 1 (800) 269-0271. Alternatively, they can file such reports with the agency online. The SSA warns the general public never to share SSN and other confidential information with unknown callers. The SSA has your SSN on file and will never request you to share it over the phone.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are automated messages delivered by phone calls to selected phone numbers. Telemarketers and government agencies use robocalls for legitimate purposes. Robocalls are cheap and have a wide-reaching ability, which is the reason they appeal to phone scammers. Phone scammers also target Madison County residents with spam calls to steal money or identities or both. Spam calls are random calls delivered to mass phone users to advertise products or services for malicious purposes. Like most robocalls, they are usually unwanted and inundating. Madison County residents can verify if incoming calls are robocalls using phone number search applications.
If you want to reduce robocall inundation and avoid robocall scams, your best options include:
- Report robocall abuse to the FTC by calling 1 (888) 382-1222 or online. If you receive a spoofed robocall, report it online to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
- Block identifies robocall and spam numbers by using third-party call-blocking applications. You can download many of them for free from Google Play and iOS stores, depending on your device.
- End a phone call that turns out to be a robocall. Listening further or acting on prompts may get you scammed and lead to more robocalls.
- Add your phone number to the DNC Registry managed by the FTC. Doing this will stop legitimate telemarketers' robocalls from coming through your phone and help you identify illegal robocalls.
How Can You Spot and Report Madison County Phone Scams?
Phone scammers use sophisticated tricks and impersonate legitimate entities to defraud naive Madison County residents. Residents are advised never to share personal information with or send money to unknown persons over the phone. Reverse phone number lookup applications can uncover the identities of strange callers and help residents avoid scams. If any of the following scenarios play out during a phone conversation, such a call probably aims to rip you off:
- If your phone number is listed on the DNC Registry and still gets inundated with robocalls, such robocalls are mostly likely scam calls.
- The caller claims to be with a government agency and requests personal information such as social security numbers. Virtually all government agencies have residents' data on file and will not request them in unsolicited calls.
- The caller demands immediate payment and wants it done by gift cards, cash, or wire transfers. These are payment channels favored by scammers. Transactions done via these methods are usually hard to recover.
- The caller tries to intimidate you with threats of arrests, jail, or other punitive actions to get you to comply with their demands.
Many government agencies provide guides on identifying and avoiding phone scams in Madison County. Generally, scam victims feel ashamed of sharing their experience with fraudsters, especially if the frauds are avoidable ones. However, keeping such an encounter to yourself is not appropriate. Consumer protection agencies encourage residents to report all phone scam incidents within the county. Some of these agencies are:
Madison County Sheriff's Department - The MCSD receives phone scam reports and investigates them. To report a phone scam incident in Madison County to the MCSD, contact the agency at (765) 646-9240.
Indiana Attorney General's Office - The Consumer Protection Division of the AG Office protects residents from falling prey to phone scams. It periodically publishes scam alerts to inform residents of current scams. Victims of phone scams in Madison County can file complaints online with the AG Office.
Federal Communications Commission - Madison County residents who fall prey to phone scams can file complaints online with the FCC.
Federal Trade Commission - The FTC protects residents from unfair and deceptive practices. Madison County residents can join the National Do Not Call Registry managed by the FTC to reduce the frequency of robocalls and ultimately avoid many scams. Victimized residents can file reports of phone scams to the FTC by calling 1 (888) 382-1222 or online.