What are Brazoria County Area Codes?
An area code is a chain of three-digit numbers at the beginning of local telephone numbers. In the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), area codes represent Numbering Plan Areas (NPAs) which are telephone service territories that determine where phone calls originate and end. Brazoria area codes are assigned and managed by the Texas Public Utilities Commission. Only one area code serves Brazoria County currently.
Area Code 979
Area code 979 is the NANP telephone area code in Texas that serves Brazoria County and stretches of other nearby counties. It was created from a split of area code 409 and covers the cities of Angleton and Lake Jackson in Brazoria County. Other locations within this area code include Alvin, Brookside Village, West Columbia, Freeport, Clute, Quintana, Manvel, Jones Creek, Sweeny, Bonney, and Holiday Lakes.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Brazoria County?
Brazoria County enjoys reliable service from the major U.S. phone carriers. AT&T boasts of the best network coverage and penetrates 96.6% part of the county. Verizon also has a broad spread of 91.1%. T-Mobile covers 85.9% of the county, while Sprint provides above-average coverage of 56.3%.
Data from a 2018 CDC survey revealed a decline in landline usage among Brazoria County residents as reliance on wireless-only services increases. Users of landline-only services represented 2.5% of the adult Texan population, while those that used wireless telephony services exclusively accounted for 67.9%.
Unlike landline users, subscribers for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony services in Brazoria County have continued to increase. Several county residents have now opted for VoIP as their preferred telecommunications medium because of its affordability and convenience. VoIP subscribers in the county can also make long-distance calls at relatively low rates and sometimes free of charge. They can also access 911 services (for interconnected VoIP services) that were previously unavailable.
What are Brazoria County Phone Scams?
Phone scams in Brazoria County are deceptive tricks by fraudsters using telecommunications services to steal residents’ confidential information and money. Fraudsters often use spoofing technology to manipulate their targets’ Caller IDs and hide their true identities. Reverse phone lookup services can, however, help residents to retrieve useful identifying information about these scammers. The Office of the Texas Attorney General (TAG) equips county locals with consumer protection information, most especially via scam alerts. Brazoria County residents can file reports of phone scam incidents with the TAG’s Office.
Some of the prevalent phone scams in Brazoria County are:
What are Government Imposter Scams?
Although this scam has many variations, it is typically perpetrated by scammers who pretend to be law enforcement officers or government agents and call unwary residents. They use the authority possessed by these publicly recognized institutions to convince their targets to share confidential information or make payments over the phone. They may pose as IRS agents to demand immediate payments of delinquent taxes or court officials to impose fictitious fines for missed jury duty. If persuasion fails, these scammers often resort to intimidation and pressure tactics to ensure their targets’ compliance. Typical threats employed include arrests, prosecutions, and license suspensions/revocations. Government imposter scammers often demand that their victims make payments via irregular payment methods. Transactions on such channels are usually hard to track, and they include preloaded debit cards, wire transfers, and gift cards. Residents of Brazoria County targeted by imposter scams can use free reverse phone lookup tools to identify who called.
What are Advance Fee Scams?
In these scams, fraudsters use false promises of huge benefits or rewards as bait to fool Brazoria County residents, letting them drop their guards. These scammers aim to deceive targeted residents long enough to get them to pay money or disclose confidential information. They often entice their victims with the exciting prospects of easy loans, fantastic prizes, or government grants. If this works, they convince their victims to make certain payments to qualify for such benefits. Wire transfers or gift cards are the scammers’ preferred payment channels. Using reverse cell phone lookups to query the phone numbers of suspicious callers can help Brazoria County residents avoid these scams.
What are Tech Support Scams?
Scammers use fear and pressure tactics to make their victims agree to fake computer repairs. They call their marks out of the blue and identify themselves as employees of familiar tech companies such as Microsoft or Apple. The callers will inform their targets that their computers are under threat due to identified viruses and must be fixed immediately to prevent file loss. Sometimes, these scammers collect upfront payments for repairs without carrying them out. In other instances, they search their victims’ computers for confidential information or install spyware to steal sensitive information from such PCs in the future. Brazoria County residents can verify these callers’ legitimacy by running their phone numbers through phone number lookup services.
What are Emergency Scams?
Elderly residents of Brazoria County are usually the main targets of these scams. It often starts when a scammer disguises themself as a grandchild in trouble and calls a targeted grandparent to send money immediately. The scammer usually claims to need such funds to resolve emergencies such as accidents, hospital admissions, or bail. They often trigger fear in the targeted person to override their skepticism and make them act as fast as possible. In some cases, scammers may try to establish credibility by talking about affairs that only their marks know. The TAG cautions residents against hastily sending money abroad through unusual payment mediums like gift cards or preloaded cards. Brazoria County residents who receive these calls can confirm the callers’ claims by calling their known phone numbers. They can also verify suspicious callers’ identities using reverse phone lookup tools.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are preset to deliver recorded messages to phone users using auto-dialed telephone calls. They are employed in many public service campaigns by politicians, telemarketers, and charities and can only be used as a solicitation tool if consent is granted. Scammers have, however, abused robocalls’ original purpose, and regularly use them to isolate viable scam targets. Robocalls increase scammers’ chances of success because it enables them to anonymously send automated messages at relatively small fees.
Robocalls are an example of spam calls but differ in their intended use. While spam calls are generally unrequested calls that annoy and irritate, robocalls are renowned for phone scams. Brazoria County residents can confirm if incoming calls are robocalls using free reverse phone lookup services.
The following steps can help tackle robocalls:
- End robocalls immediately you realize what they are. Decline prompts to be unlisted or to speak with a live agent.
- Call the Federal Trade Commission on 1 (800) 382-1222, or file reports of unwanted calls with them online.
- Reject calls from unknown phone numbers. Credible callers will leave messages on your voicemail machine.
- Sign up on the National Do Not Call Registry and Texas No-Call List to block robocalls from legitimate businesses. Brazoria County residents can register their numbers online or by mail. They will cease to receive unwanted calls after sixty days of registration.
- Inquire if your service provider offers free call-blocking services and use them to bar identified robocall numbers.
Consumers in Brazoria County can also use the call-blocking information provided by the FTC.
How Can You Spot and Report Brazoria County Phone Scams?
Education and vigilance are two foolproof ways of spotting phone scams in Brazoria County. They help county residents tackle scammers’ deceptive schemes more effectively. Reverse cell phone number lookup tools are viable mediums of unmasking the identities of persons behind suspicious phone calls.
Features of typical phone scams in Brazoria County include:
- Repeated solicitation for confidential information by persons claiming to represent reputable businesses or institutions
- The use of arrests, litigations, fines, imprisonment, or license suspension threats in a bid to coerce victims to make payments or share confidential information
- Requests for upfront payments to cover taxes, shipping, or processing fees as a prerequisite for redeeming prizes
- Insistence on specific payment methods that are hard to track. Such payment channels include gift cards, cryptocurrencies, and wire transfers.
- Investment offers with guaranteed high returns at little or no risks.
Brazoria County residents can avoid phone scams by regularly looking up consumer protection information provided by federal, state, and local consumer protection agencies. Agencies involved in protecting residents against phone scams include:
Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office: The Sheriff’s Office enforces Brazoria County security laws and notifies locals of prevalent scams. Residents who have received scam calls or have been defrauded can call (979) 849-7211 to file complaints with the Sheriff’s Office.
Federal Trade Commission: The FTC ensures that consumers in America, including Brazoria County, are protected from fraudulent business acts. They developed the National Do Not Call Registry to protect registered consumers from falling victim to illegal robocalls. Residents can report cases of unwanted calls to the FTC online.
Federal Communications Commission: Charged with regulating communications in the U.S., the FCC also helps consumers combat illegal robocalls and phone spoofing scams. They educate consumers on how to stop unwanted robocalls and avoid phone scams. Brazoria County residents can file complaints of unwanted robocalls and phone imposter scams with the FCC online.
Office of the Texas Attorney General: This Office works through its consumer protection division to keep Texans safe from unlawful and dishonest trade practices. They protect citizens from identity theft and also educate them on how to spot and avoid common scams. Brazoria County residents who have been victims of identity thefts or have experienced phone scams can file consumer complaints with the TAG’s Office.