Taylor County Reverse Phone Lookup

What are Taylor County Area Codes?

Area codes were established under the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) to help route calls through geographical areas. Under NANP, telephone numbers were separated into different geographic distributions to simplify telephony communications for a growing population. Area codes were formed as three-digit prefixes placed at the beginning of seven-digit telephone numbers to help identify where telephone calls originate and terminate. You can find the area code of an area in the United States by using an area code lookup tool online.

Currently, only one area code serves Taylor County - Area code 325

Area Code 325

Area code 325 was created from area code 915 and was first used on April 5, 2003. It is located in central Texas and is the only area code covering Abilene, San Angelo, and Brownwood. Other locations served by area code 325 include Snyder, Sweetwater, Kingsland, Brady, and Coleman.

What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Taylor County?

According to a 2018 study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, 67.9% of persons above the age of 18 in Texas used wireless-only telephony service, while 2.5% used landline-only telephony service. Among persons below the age of 18, 76.6% used wireless-only telephony service, while only 1.4% used landline telephony service exclusively.

With the wealth of options in the market, Taylor County residents are certain to find cell phone plans that meet their budgets and have enough features to suit their needs. Sometimes though, the variety of options on offer can be overwhelming. Residents need to go into the search with clarity of what they need out of the plans. Primarily, you should only consider subscribing to a plan if the provider’s coverage is decent in your area. In the county seat of Abilene, AT&T has the best overall coverage at 88%, while Sprint has a coverage of 82%. Verizon's coverage is rated 68% while T-Mobile's coverage is rated 55%.

You can also subscribe to a plan from any of the smaller carriers operating in Taylor County. You can find cheap plans from smaller carriers with restrictions on the number of minutes and text messages. Smaller carriers are known as Mobile Virtual Network Operators with their infrastructure leased from major wireless carriers.

For even cheaper plans, many Taylor County residents are turning to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to cut down on voice communication costs. Since VoIP uses the Internet, an existing infrastructure, to transmit calls, users are typically charged for data used and not minutes used. By subscribing to VoIP plans, you can make calls to users of regular phone numbers at low costs.

What are Taylor County Phone Scams?

Taylor County phone scams involve cons and tricks of fraudsters carried out using the telephone to fleece Taylor County residents or obtain their personal information. Phone scammers may use elaborate stories to play on the emotions of their targets or pose as employees of reputable agencies and demand money from residents. Whatever tricks are used by phone scammers, the aim is to get sensitive information from victims which will be used to steal their identities or directly obtain money under fraudulent guises. While the elderly are more often targeted in phone scams, younger residents are also not outside the radar of scammers. Reverse phone number lookup applications can help residents recognize spoofed phone calls and prevent residents from falling victim to phone scams.

What are Taylor County Jury Duty Scams?

In the jury duty scam, residents receive phone calls from people purporting themselves to be county officials or law enforcement officers. They claim that targets have failed to appear for jury duties and could face jail time. Sometimes, they call with falsified caller ID information appearing as though the calls are originating from the Taylor County Sheriff's Office or local police departments. To avoid getting locked up, targets are told to purchase prepaid credit cards and then give them the card information over the phone.

Some also ask for gift cards and permit targets to negotiate the amounts requested. To 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 Taylor County IRS Scams?

An IRS scam is when an unsolicited caller contacts you masquerading as an employee of the IRS. The caller states that you owe back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service or the Department of Treasury. The con artist claims you will be arrested, jailed, or have your business or driver's license revoked. If you are an immigrant, the caller claims that you will be deported in a few weeks if you do not pay up immediately.

In the IRS scam, the callers do not allow targets to appeal the purported amount of taxes owed. Payment is requested through MoneyGram, PayPal, Western Union, gift card, reloadable card, or cryptocurrency. The real IRS will ask you to make payments to the United States Treasury and not unverified accounts. Many IRS scam calls do not originate within the United States. You may conduct a “reverse phone lookup international” search online to verify the source of such calls. A “reverse phone lookup USA” search will help track the origin of a call placed within the United States.

What are Taylor County Social Security Scams?

The social security scam has remained one of the most perpetrated scams in Taylor County. Criminals contact residents and claim to be from the Social Security Office. These persons typically have personal information to try and prove they are from the Social Security Office and then also say that they will get law enforcement involved if targets do not provide more personal information. Social security scammers use variations of this con to try and solicit personal information in hopes of getting money from the target. You can use any free reverse phone lookup tool to verify the identity of the person behind a call.

What are Taylor County Utility Scams?

Utility scams are becoming more common owing to the vast number of utilities that exist, and consumers are understandably anxious about the threat of disruption to their electric, heating, or water service. Also, new products and services in the various industries offering utility services provide opportunities for scammers to provide misleading information or shoddy products and services.

In the utility scam, scammers contact Taylor County residents and claim that they have unpaid bills which must be paid immediately. They may also claim that the utility companies being represented are rewarding customers with reduced prices or offering new products and services provided they make payments within a short period of time.

Utility scammers threaten service disruption or total disconnection of services if payments are not made by wire transfers, gift cards, or prepaid debit cards. Taylor County residents may use reverse phone number lookup tools online to uncover the real identities of callers in order not to fall victims to utility scams.

What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?

A robocall is a phone call that delivers an automated or prerecorded voice message. Robocall messages are usually delivered using auto-dialers or automatic dialing announcing devices (ADADs). Sometimes, robocalls are legal and occur with recipients' consent. Spam calls are unsolicited calls where the intention is often to trick or scam the recipients. Using the capabilities of ADADs, spam callers can send out thousands of calls per minute in the hope of catching a few people unawares.

In 2020, about 5.2 billion robocalls were placed to Texans. Between January and April 2021, Texas residents received more than 2 billion robocalls, an average of 63.7 robocalls per person.  A reverse phone number lookup application can identify if an incoming call is a robocall and help you avoid scams. Other steps you can take to avoid robocall scams and limit robocall intrusions include:

• Do not answer unrecognized callers. If you are unfamiliar with a phone number, do not hesitate to let the call go directly to voicemail.
• Hang up on robocalls. Do not press any numbers. Scammers usually ask you to press a number to speak with a live operator. Pressing the number indicates to the scammer that the line is active, which in turn means that more robocalls can be made to the phone line. If you press the button to speak to a live operator, the operator doubling as the scammer will eventually ask for money or say they will remove you from their list, which ends up being untrue.
• Do not call any number or go directly to a website that you are directed to on the call. Always do your research and verify any number, persons, or website online, rather than relying on any information you are given.
• Subscribe to the FTC's Consumer alerts.
• Contact your phone service provider if it offers call-blocking services
• Install a third-party call-blocking app, such as Hiya, Nomorobo, and Truecaller
• Register your number in the National Do Not Call Registry.

How to Spot and Report Taylor County Phone Scams?

Every day, fraudsters attempt to victimize hundreds of Taylor County residents. If successful, these scams can seriously affect the lives of residents, their families, and other people. Many phone scams can be identified and prevented before they can cause any damage. Taylor County residents can free reverse number lookups to identify scam-related incoming calls. Other scam prevention tips and red flags to watch out for include:

• The caller demands payment "today": A phone scammer will often insist on payment today. The scammer may say that you will be penalized if you do not come up with the payment immediately. Be wary when unsolicited callers say you only have today or a few hours to pay up.
• The caller does not accept various forms of payment:  Most reputable agencies will accept payment through some combination of mail, phone, website, or debit card. They want to receive payment no matter how you get it to them. A scammer typically insists on payment in a single way, like an instant bank transfer, gift cards, or prepaid debit cards.
• The caller is abnormally abusive and harassing: Scammers often use blatant and aggressive threats. They tell targets that they will be arrested or imprisoned. These types of threats are not associated with reputable organizations.
• The caller wants to obtain your personal information: Scammers use several tricks to lure targets into releasing their personal information. Sometimes, they are just blatant with the request but under certain ruses. You may be informed that your account needs to be verified or will be suspended if you do not provide sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, bank account information, birth date, and passwords.

You can file complaints with any of the following public bodies if you have been contacted by a scammer:

• The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office and local police departments: If you have received a call from a scammer, you can contact your local police department or the Taylor County Sheriff's Office at (325) 674-1301. In the county seat of Abilene, you can contact the Abilene Police Department at (325) 673-8331.
• The Texas Attorney General’s Office:  File a complaint online to the Consumer Protection Division of the Office or call the Office’s toll-free line at (800) 621-0508.
• Federal Communications Commission: If you receive unwanted robocalls and text messages, you can file a report online with the FCC.
• Federal Trade Commission - The FTC protects consumers from deceptive and fraudulent practices. You can file a phone scam report with the FTC by completing the online complaint form.
• The United States Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TITGA): If you have been contacted by an IRS scammer, contact TITGA by calling the office at (800) 366-4484.
• Social Security Administration: If you receive a scam call or suspect you have been a victim of a scam from the Social Security Administration, report such calls by calling the Office of the Inspector General at (800) 269-0271 or make a report online.