What are Tippecanoe County Area Codes?
The area code system was developed by AT&T and Bell Laboratories and was first used in 1947. It was called the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) and included the United States and Canada. To help route long-distance calls, three code prefixes or area codes were created as part of the numbering plan. When the area code is combined with the first three digits of a seven-digit local telephone number, a geographic address is formed that routes calls through the telephone network. For quick information about a specific area code, use area code lookup tools online.
Currently, only one area code serves Tippecanoe County – Area code 765.
Area Code 765
Area code 765 was created from area code 317 and was first used on February 1, 1997. It is the area code serving central Indiana outside the Indianapolis metro area. It is the only area code serving Muncie, Lafayette, and Anderson. Other locations within this area code include Kokomo, Richmond, Marion, Frankfort, Lebanon, and Crawfordsville.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Tippecanoe County?
Wireless telephony users in Indiana far outnumber residents using landline-only telephony service. Estimates from a 2018 survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics reveal that 63.3% of residents aged 18 and above in Indiana used wireless telephony service exclusively, while only 4.0% used landline-only telephony service. The survey also showed that among persons below the age of 18, 75.4% used wireless-only telephony service, while only 2.4% used landline service exclusively.
There is a rich assortment of options available for Tippecanoe residents to choose from when searching for cell phone plans. Various plans are available from the four major Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) under the broad categories: family plans, individual plans, and no-contract plans. However, not only do you want a plan that suits your needs and meets your budget, but you also want a plan offered by a provider with decent coverage in your local area.
In the county seat of Lafayette, AT&T has the best overall coverage with a score of 92%. Sprint has a coverage score of 88%, Verizon's coverage is rated 82%, while T-Mobile has a coverage score of 60%. The Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) space is also well represented in Tippecanoe County with a multitude of smaller carriers providing wireless telephony service and cell phone plans to customers. MVNOs typically offer the same quality of coverage as the MNOs but at lower prices.
Tippecanoe County residents also use Voice over Internet Protocol to make and receive phone calls. VoIP refers to Voice over Internet Protocol, a technology that converts voice signals into digital form for transmission over IP networks. Users are only charged for data and not minutes used. Users can also select area codes other than the local area codes of their residential city or community - an appealing feature to business owners in the county.
What are Tippecanoe County Phone Scams?
Tippecanoe phone scams include all illegitimate activities carried out using the telephone to rip off Tippecanoe County residents or obtain their personal information for use in fraudulent activities. Phone scammers often pose as who they are not, using various cons, threats, and fear to attack victims. Apart from pretending to be someone else, a scammer may also use technology to mimic the caller ID of a trusted person such as a neighbor, friend, or relative. To reduce the odds of falling victim to phone scams, use phone lookup applications to unmask the real identities of persons behind unsolicited calls.
What are Tippecanoe County Law Enforcement Impersonation Scams?
In the Tippecanoe law enforcement scams, callers contact county residents and portray themselves to be employees of the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department, local police departments, or other law enforcement agencies in the county. These criminals tell targets that they have bench warrants out for their arrests for missing jury duties. Targets are told they can clear the legal issues by purchasing prepaid Visa cards from local stores in the county and providing the callers with the numbers from the cards.
Note that the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department does not contact citizens by telephone, nor ask for payments for warrants, writs, missed court dates, or jury duties. To help 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 Tippecanoe County IRS Scams?
The IRS scam is a common scam perpetrated by con artists across the country, including Tippecanoe County. The con plays on people's emotions and fears. Residents targeted by this scam receive calls with computer-generated voices informing them that the IRS has been trying to reach them to no avail. The calls sound like official final notices from the Internal Revenue Service. These scammers pose as employees of the IRS and use fake names and IRS badge numbers to appear real.
IRS scammers inform their targets that the IRS is filing lawsuits against them. Targets are advised to call immediately on the callback numbers left in the voicemails. Those who respond are likely to face high-pressure impersonators demanding the taxpayers' personal information and threatening to have local authorities jail them. To avoid arrests, targets are instructed to make payments by wire transfers, gift cards, or prepaid cards. Many IRS scammers perpetrate the scam from outside the United States. You may conduct reverse phone lookup international searches using free reverse phone number lookup tools online to identify the origins of such calls.
What are Tippecanoe County Utility Scams?
Utility scammers in Tippecanoe County pretend to be representatives of utility organizations to steal money or fraudulently obtain the identities of Tippecanoe County residents. Be wary of callers threatening to disconnect your service unless you share financial account information or use an online payment service to pay your bill immediately.
In the utility scam, scammers pretend to represent an energy, gas, water, or cable tv company and claim that your account is past due. They insist targets' services will be shut down if large payments are not made, typically within less than an hour. The scammers may become aggressive and instruct targets to purchase pre-paid debit or credit cards from retail stores in the county and call back to make payments. A phone lookup service can help determine if an incoming call is associated with a scam or scammer.
What are Tippecanoe County Work-from-Home Scams?
As work from home jobs become more popular, scammers are beginning to target this market with seemingly lucrative job offers. Also, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, work-from-home-scammers are enjoying more success deceiving people and stealing personal information. Common work-at-home scams involve jobs such as stuffing envelopes, processing billing forms for medical offices, filling out online surveys, doing typing or data entry, and assembling crafts.
Typically, in a work-from-home scam, you will be asked to pay something upfront for supplies, certifications, coaching, or client leads. In return, you will receive a load of useless information or nothing at all, or a demand that you place more advertisements to recruit more people into the scheme. While there are genuine work-from-home jobs, the trick is spotting the real opportunities in a pool of empty and costly promises. You can use a reverse cell phone lookup tool to verify if a caller’s identity matches the name given.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
A robocall is an automated call sent using an auto-dialer to deliver a prerecorded message. Robocalls are efficient and powerful tools for sending targeted messages to the public. It is commonly used by political campaigners, charities seeking support, and public service announcements such as disaster warnings and flight delays.
However, robocalls are now used illegitimately by scammers to contact residents with pitches of phony products and services or obtain personal information from them. The auto-dialers used in sending out robocalls are powerful enough to store thousands of contacts and forward recorded messages to them. This has become a tool used to send out spam calls to thousands of Tippecanoe County residents.
In 2020, over 629 million robocalls were placed to Indiana residents. Between January and April 2021, these residents received more than 263 million robocalls, an average of 42.6 robocalls per person. To limit the chances of being fleeced by robocalls, use reverse phone lookup tools to verify the source of incoming calls.
Other steps to take to stop robocalls include:
- Terminate robocalls. If you answer a call and hear a pre-recorded message, hang up immediately. Do not press any number to speak with live agents.
- Do not believe the information on your caller ID display. Spoofing technology may be used by callers to make their calls appear like they are coming from within Tippecanoe County.
- Do not provide or confirm personal or financial information to anyone over the phone.
- Request your phone provider to block numbers associated with robocalls.
- Enroll in the Do-Not-Call List: To limit the calls from telemarketers and scammers, you can enroll your residential and cell phone numbers with the national Do-Not-Call list.
- Use Call Blocking Services: You can download and install a third-party call blocking app on your mobile phone to block unwanted calls on your cell phone. Call-blocking apps help detect spam calls by using blacklist databases, blocking numbers that have received a high number of consumer complaints.
How to Spot and Report Tippecanoe County Phone Scams?
Scams cost individuals, businesses, and governments millions of dollars every year in estimated losses, and many victims are made to endure depression and ill health. There are very few crimes that affect so many people from almost all backgrounds, ages, and geographical locations. Therefore, it has become important to learn how to spot phone scams. Residents can identify phone scams by performing free phone number lookups. Other signs to look out for during phone calls include:
- The caller uses high-pressure sales tactics, and "limited-time" offers
- The caller is reluctant to answer all of your questions
- The caller requests that you confirm personal information. Ideally, this is information the caller should already have
- The caller claims you have been specially selected for a prize or winning
- The caller requests your credit card or other payment mechanisms for shipping and handling fees.
- The caller threatens you with arrest, deportation, or imprisonment if you do not comply with the instructions given
- The call starts with a prerecorded message
Although being aware of common cons used by phone scammers goes a long way in helping spot phone scams, it will not shield 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 with any of the following public bodies if you have been contacted by a scammer:
- The Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department: If you have received a call from a scammer, you may contact the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department at (765) 423-9388.
- Local Police Departments: You can also file reports at your local police department if you have been contacted by a scammer. If you have any information about any related scams in the county seat of Lafayette, you can contact the Lafayette Police Department by calling (765) 807-1000.
- The Indiana Attorney General's Office: You can file a consumer complaint with the Indiana Attorney General's Office online or by filling out a printable form. You can also request a complaint form by calling (800) 382-5516 or (317) 232-6330.
- The Federal Trade Commission: If you receive unsolicited calls 31 days after adding your number to the National Do Not Call Registry, you can file a complaint online with the FTC.
- The Federal Communications Commission: The FCC allows you to file a complaint online if you believe you have received a call from a spam call, or if you think you are the victim of a phone scam.
- 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.