What are Grayson County Area Codes?
Area codes refer to the three-digit numbers that precede all phone numbers in North America. They are used to identify the different numbering plan areas in North America. Area codes were introduced in 1947 to unify all telephone numbering plans in North America. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator manages the North American Numbering Plan and the allocation of area codes in North America. The Public Utilities Commission of Texas ensures the provision of reliable, safe telecommunications services in the State of Texas.
Area Code 903
Area code 903 was brought into service on the 4th of November 1990. This area code was created from the split of the area code 214. It serves the northeastern part of the State of Texas and covers several towns and cities like Dorchester, Trenton, and Pottsboro.
Area Code 430
Area code 430 was brought into service on the 15th of February 2003. It is a service overlay to area code 903. The area code covers major towns and cities like Sherman and Denison.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Grayson County?
The four major wireless services providers in Grayson County are Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. These major wireless service providers cover varying areas of the county and provide good 4G wireless coverage within the county. AT&T provides the best wireless coverage in the county, covering 94% of the county. It is closely followed by Verizon, which covers 92% of the county. T-Mobile and Sprint cover 80% and 56% of Grayson County, respectively.
There are pockets of areas in Grayson County with service drops or areas where none of the four major wireless carriers provide significant coverage. In these areas, adequate wireless coverage is maintained with the help of the numerous Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in the county. These MVNOs provide telecommunication services to their subscribers by leasing the infrastructure of the major wireless service providers. Some of these MVNOs specialize in providing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services exclusively. VoIP is gaining acceptance from residents and businesses in Grayson County. This is due to its flexibility, reliability, and affordability.
Residents prefer wireless phone services to traditional landlines. This was deduced from the National Center of Health Statistics survey conducted in 2018. The survey showed that 67.9% of adults in the State of Texas relied solely on wireless phone services, while 2.5% of adults relied on traditional landlines. Similarly, 76.6% of minors relied exclusively on wireless telephones, and 1.4% relied on traditional landlines. Finally, it should be noted that 7.5% of adults and 3.5% of minors in the state relied on a combination of wireless phone services and traditional landlines for their communication needs.
What are Grayson County Phone Scams?
Grayson County phone scams are polys by criminals to con Grayson County residents of their money, personal, or financial information. These criminals use telephone and other telecommunication devices to con county residents. These criminals call, text, or email Grayson County residents with offers of fake investments or business opportunities. They impersonate officials of government agencies or legitimate businesses to add some credibility to their stories. They also use caller ID spoofing to mask their identities. County residents may use services like reverse phone number lookup or number lookup to unmask the identities of spoofed calls.
What are Grayson County Utility Bill Scams?
In the Grayson County utility bill scam, a fraudster calls a Grayson County resident and claims to be a staff of a utility company. The fraudster uses caller ID spoofing to mimic a legitimate utility company’s phone number. During the call, the fraudster informs the recipient of an unpaid utility bill balance or fee that needs to be paid urgently to avoid disconnection. The fraudster instructs the recipient to make the payment as a cash drop at an alternate location or via a prepaid card. The Grayson County Sheriff’s Office advises residents never to make payments over the phone. They have also informed residents that a utility company will never request payment over the phone or as a cash drop-off at an alternate location. Residents are also instructed to ignore and report any calls making such demands for payment over the phone. A good phone number lookup service is useful in finding who called.
What are Grayson County Jury Duty Scams?
In the Grayson County jury duty scam, a fraudster calls a Grayson County resident with a spoofed caller ID for the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office. During the call, the fraudster impersonates a deputy of the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office and informs the resident that there is a warrant for the resident’s arrest. The fraudster claims that the warrant was insured due to the resident's failure to honor a jury duty invitation. The fraudster then proceeds to demand payment from the resident to resolve the arrest warrant. The fraudster also requests that the payment be paid as a cash drop off or with a prepaid card. The success of this scam is due to the limited knowledge residents have regarding jury duty laws. The Grayson County Sheriff's Office has also informed residents that deputies will never request payment from county residents. They also advise residents to call the County Sheriff's Office phone number to verify such information.
What are Grayson County Child Tax Credit Scams?
Fraudsters are taking advantage of the COVID-19 government interventions currently available to Grayson County residents. One of such interventions is the child tax credit. The child tax credit guarantees that families will receive extra relief payments for each dependent child.
In the Grayson County child tax credit scam, the fraudster calls a Grayson County resident and claims to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The fraudster spoofs the resident's caller ID to display a legitimate IRS office phone number. The fraudster then tells the Grayson County resident that the IRS has set up a portal to enable the resident to update personal information to be entitled to the tax credit. Finally, the fraudster then requests the resident's bank account details and online password to ensure that the account is correctly set up to receive the monthly payments.
Many residents fall victim to this scam because of the excitement of the supposed tax credit payment they are to receive. This is often the case when the resident has many dependent children. County officials have advised residents not to share their bank account details with anyone over the phone. They have also reiterated that no government official would require a resident's bank details to receive the tax credit payment. Residents may use free reverse phone number lookup services to identify who called.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls use pre-programmed auto-dialers to reach a large number of people in a very short time. Robocalls are very popular with political campaigns, polling agencies, and telemarketers. The legality of robocalls is based on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. The Act seeks to enforce the public and private safety interests of Grayson County residents. On the other hand, spam calls refer to all unwanted and annoying calls that deliver irrelevant messages. These calls do not require pre-programmed auto-dialers to make calls.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mandates that robocalls begin by the callers properly identifying themselves. However, fraudsters leverage the cover provided by robocalls to reach and defraud Grayson County residents. It is very difficult for county residents to avoid robocalls as they dial randomly selected numbers. Residents can rely on phone number lookup services to identify the callers.
When faced with unwanted robocalls, Grayson County residents should take the following actions:
- Register their phone numbers online with the National Do Not Call Register.
- Register their phone numbers with Texas Do not Call List
- Reach out to their telephone service providers for details on how to block unwanted calls. Mobile phone users can also just download call blocking solution online
- Ignore calls from unknown phone numbers.
- Use good reverse phone lookup services to screen masked caller ID.
If these robocalls continue, residents are advised to file complaints to the Federal Trade Commission.
How Can You Spot and Report Grayson County Phone Scams?
Identifying Grayson County phone scams may be difficult because scammers now use technological advancements such as caller ID spoofing and robocalls to perpetrate fraud. Similarly, the same technological advancements have also made it easier for Grayson County residents to spot phone scams. Residents can use reverse phone number lookup services and other call blocking solutions to spot scam calls. However, these tools are not nearly as reliable in spotting these scam calls as understanding how to identify phone scams.
To identify phone scams, residents need to look out for:
- Offers that promise unbelievably high returns on investment.
- Payment request through unconventional channels such as Moneygram, Bitcoin, or cash apps.
- Long pause or pre-recorded messages at the start of a call before a human voice is heard continuing the conversation.
- High-pressure sales pitches demanding immediate responses from residents, claiming that the offers are only available for a limited time.
- Threats and intimidation during the call in a bid to scare the targets.
- Unusual interest in obtaining resident’s details.
Several government agencies have been set up to receive complaints and reports of illegal robocalls and scam calls. Some of which include:
Office of the Attorney General of Texas - The Consumer Protection Unit of the Office of the Attorney General of Texas receives complaints and investigates cases of phone scams and identity theft. They also educate residents on how to spot and identify phone scams. Complaints and reports can be submitted online or in-person at:
Office of the Attorney General
300 West 15th street
Austin, TX 78701
Residents may also call the Consumer Protection Hotline on (800) 621-0508.
Grayson County Sheriff’s Office - Complaints of phone scams can be made directly with the County Sheriff's office in person at;
The Grayson County Sheriff’s Office
100 West Houston
Sherman, TX 75090
Phone: (903) 813-4200
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - Is the primary regulator of communications in the United States. Residents can report consumer complaints about illegal robocalls and caller ID spoofing online.
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center - Residents can report cases of phone and internet fraud online to the FBI.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - The FTC deals with phone scams and identity fraud complaints online. Complaints may also be made via phone at 1-877-ID-Theft and 1-877-FTC-HELP.