What are Olmsted County Area Codes?
An area code is a three-digit prefix appended to a telephone number indicating the geographical area associated with the number. An area code can also indicate how long the number has been in use in that area and whether it is a landline or a wireless number. An area code can cover the same area as another area code. When that happens, the area code is referred to as an area code overlay.
Only one area code currently serves Olmsted County – Area code 507
Area Code 507
Area code 507 was created from area code 612 and was first used on January 1, 1954. It was the third area code created in the state. It serves locations such as Rochester, Mankato, Winona, Owatonna, Austin, Faribault, and Northfield.
What Are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Olmsted County?
According to a 2018 National Center of Health Statistics, 56.2% of persons aged 18 and above in Minnesota used wireless-only telephony service, while 4.4% used landline-only telephony service. The survey also revealed that among individuals below the age of 18, 63.2% used wireless-only telephony service, while only 1.9% used landline telephony service exclusively. This indicates a wide adoption of wireless telephony services compared to wired telephony services in Minnesota.
Cellular phone users in Olmsted County do not have to look far to find plans that fit their needs and budgets. However, you need to carefully consider what you require in a cell phone and how much you really want to spend. Also, one of the key things that should go into your decision-making process should be the coverage quality in your local area. The large carrier networks in the United States are all represented in Olmsted County. In the county seat of Rochester, Verizon has the best overall coverage with a score of 98%. T-Mobile's coverage is rated 96%, AT&T's at 54%, while Sprint has a coverage score of 50%.
Smaller MVNO cell carriers can also be good choices, even if they are not as popular as the four Major Network Operators (MNOs). These smaller cell carriers run on the networks of larger carriers so you will likely have service in your local area.
Wireless telephony service is also offered by VoIP service providers in Olmsted County. VoIP, an acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol is a technology that allows users to make telephone calls over broadband internet connections. With the rise of broadband internet connection, VoIP is fast becoming a popular choice for residential and business users alike. VoIP offers more capabilities than landline phones and can perform every function and more at cheaper costs. This is possible because VoIP service providers do not have to make the level of infrastructural investments required of landline and cellular phone service providers.
What are Olmsted County Phone Scams?
Olmsted County phone scams are phone calls placed to Olmsted County residents where the callers use deceptive practices to lure residents into revealing personal information or obtain money from them. Fraudsters now combine old tricks with modern technology to disguise, or “spoof,” incoming phone numbers on caller IDs. Along with threats and some convincing acting, spoofing techniques help scam artists to appear legitimate to Olmsted County residents. The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office post scam alerts on their websites to keep residents aware of trending cons in the county and the state at large. Olmsted County Residents can use reverse phone number lookup services to help identify perpetrators of phone scams. Common phone scams in Olmsted County Include IRS scams, employment scams, social security scams, and tech support scams.
What are Olmsted County IRS Scams?
In an IRS scam, someone contacts you pretending to work with the IRS and asks you to make a payment for taxes owed to the agency. Although you may not have received any notices from the IRS about taxes owed, the caller is undeterred, even using the threat of arrest, imprisonment, deportment, or license revocation to get you to pay. At other times, IRS scammers ask for sensitive information from their targets such as birth dates, Social Security numbers, and bank account information. The scammer demands that you send money by wire transfer, purchase a prepaid debit card, or arrange to send money through other means that do not guarantee refunds. Phone lookup applications can help unmask the real identities of IRS scammers.
What are Olmsted County Employment Scams?
In employment scams, scammers contact their targets through phone calls and are usually very professional and polite. They offer job opportunities and quickly initiate online interviews through emails, video chats, or text messages. Shortly after the interviews, they provide targets with employment documents to receive their personal and banking information. They ask for bank account numbers and account information, social insurance numbers, and home addresses.
Targets are typically told that they are "hired" in probationary capacity and have to prove they are reliable and suitable for the jobs. A target may be asked to pay an "activation fee" or upfront costs for "training" and "materials". Many desperate residents fall for this trick and transfer funds to "employers". Reverse phone number lookup applications can help identify scammers and prevent residents from falling victim to employment scams.
What are Olmsted County Social Security Scams?
Considering the huge number of Americans receiving Social Security benefits, it is no surprise that con artists are especially targeting such categories of persons. Their schemes usually involve impersonating the Social Security Administration (SSA) using several tricks and techniques. Some of these crooked persons use caller ID spoofing, a technique that allows them to mimic the real number of the SSA on the caller ID displays of their targets.
They threaten to cut off Social Security benefits or charge for services the SSA provides for free. They may also claim that targets’ Social Security accounts were suspended due to suspicious activities linked with those accounts. To lift the suspensions, targets are required to pay money through wire transfers, gift cards, prepaid debit cards, or cryptocurrencies. Note that the SSA does not suspend accounts. You can use free reverse phone number lookup tools online to find out who called and who a number is registered to.
What are Olmsted County Tech Support Scams?
Tech support scammers aim to steal sensitive information from your computer device for use in fraudulent activities. It may begin by a call from someone claiming to represent a trusted tech company or through pop-up warnings displaying on your computer. The pop-up warning or the caller informs you that your computer device has been infected by malware, viruses, or spyware, which portends huge risk for your device and the files stored therein. If a pop-up is used to engage the target, it typically contains the phone number of the tech support to call.
Once you contact the supposed tech support, the scammer asks you to purchase certain tools such as computer tune-up software and antivirus at exorbitant prices. The scammer also asks for remote access to run some diagnostics and "fix" the issue. Upon granting the required access, the scammer may install spyware, malware, and ransomware to monitor your activities to steal sensitive information such as bank account information, passwords, PINs, and other sensitive information. Phone lookup applications can help unmask the real identities of phone scammers.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
A robocall is a call that delivers a pre-recorded message through an auto-dialing software or device. If you answer a call and hear a recorded message instead of a real person, you are listening to a robocall. Some robocalls provide useful information such as flight cancellations, appointment reminders, and other public service announcements. Mostly, though, they are trying to sell bogus products and phony services.
Using auto-dialing software employed by robocallers, crooked persons can place thousands of calls to targets every day. These are unsolicited calls that are widely seen as nuisance calls. They are spam calls targeted at defrauding residents.
Follow these guidelines to limit the number of incoming robocalls and to reduce the chances of falling victim to the tricks of spam callers:
- Hang up on robocalls. If you answer a call and hear a prerecorded message, hang up immediately. Do not press any button or number. That could lead to you receiving more calls from robocallers.
- Avoid answering calls from unknown numbers.
- Do not provide or confirm personal or financial information to anyone over the phone, as the request may be fraudulent.
- Contact your telephone provider. Some providers offer call screening or call blocking products.
- Download and install third-party call-blocking applications on your mobile phone such as Nomorobo, Truecaller, Hiya, and YouMail.
- Report unwanted calls online to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or call (888) 382-1222.
- Register your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry maintained by the FTC. Registration is free and can be done by calling (888) 382-1222 from the number you intend to register.
How to Spot and Report Olmsted County Phone Scams?
As telephone scams become increasingly prevalent, it is important to be aware of common cons used by fraudsters in defrauding targets. Armed with this knowledge, you can effectively avoid falling victim to telephone scams. You can use tools such as reverse phone number lookup services in identifying potential phone scams. The following telltale signs are also helpful in limiting the impact of phone scams:
- Pressure tactics from a caller trying to force you into making a quick decision. By confirming the claims of unsolicited callers from other sources, targets are more likely to avoid being scammed by fraudsters. Being aware of this, fraudsters try to pressure targets into making immediate decisions. Such tricks may include threats of arrests or service disconnections.
- Offers described as special deals and ending soon. There are no get-rich-quick schemes. Scammers will lure targets with statements like "this is once in a lifetime deal" to defraud them. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- Unsolicited call from someone requesting sensitive information: Con artists request sensitive information such as credit card details, Social Security number, and bank account information and use such information to commit fraud. Do not give out personal information to unknown callers regardless of who they claim to represent.
- Unsolicited calls where the caller demands that you make payment by gift cards, wire transfers, or prepaid debit cards: These payment methods are difficult to trace. Refrain from making payments into unverified accounts and hang up on callers who insist on only receiving payment through these methods.
- The caller cannot communicate properly: Many scams originate from outside the United States even though the caller ID information shows up as though they are coming from local areas. Regardless of caller ID information, if the person on the other end cannot speak fluently, hang up immediately.
You can file complaints in Olmsted County with any of the following public bodies if you have been contacted by a scammer:
- The Olmsted 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 Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office at (507) 328-6800. In the county seat of Rochester, you can contact the City of Rochester Police Department at (507) 328-6800.
- The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office: To report a scam, you can file a report online to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office by using the online fraud report form. You can also contact the Office at (651) 296-3353 (Twin Cities Calling Area) or (800) 657-3787 (Outside the Twin Cities).
- 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 the TITGA by calling the office at (800) 366-4484.
- Social Security Administration: If you receive a scam call or you 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