What are Kenton County Area Codes?
Only one area code serves the residents of Kenton County. This is area code 859. An area code is a three-digit numeric designation assigned to a numbering plan area (NPA). Area codes were introduced in the US at the creation of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in 1947. The NANP replaced the different and conflicting telephone exchange and handover systems in place before then. It made long-distance call routing more efficient and made it easier to identify the origins of phone calls. In a 10-digit American phone number, the first three digits represents the area code.
Area Code 859
This area code was created from area code 606 in a split plan in 1999. It covers 19 counties in Kentucky and these are located in the central part of the state. Area code 859 has phone numbers assigned to the central office code 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. To avoid conflict during seven-digit dialing, authorities are making phone users in areas covered by area code 859 switch to 10-digit dialing on October 25, 2021. Cities in Kenton County served by area code 859 include Bromley, Covington, Fairview, Independence, and Walton.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in Kenton County?
According to a 2018 wireless substitution survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, 61.9% of adults in Kentucky have completely moved away from landline phones to wireless phones. In contrast, 5.7% of them still only used landline phones for their telecommunication needs. Among minors in Kentucky, the gap between the proportion of the population that solely used wireless and landline phones was even wider. This survey concluded that 70.6% of residents under the age of 18 were exclusively wireless phone users. On the other hand, a very small percentage (2.9%) of this demographic still relied solely on landline phones.
All four major carriers offer phone services in Kenton County and the rest of Kentucky. Among them, AT&T offers the widest coverage with its phone network available in 99.5% of the state. T-Mobile comes second with 88% coverage while Verizon’s phone network is only available in 67% of Kentucky. Sprint only covers 49% of the state.
Besides major carriers, there are also smaller phone service providers known as MVNOs in Kentucky. MVNOs or Mobile Virtual Network Operators are regional carriers that share the network infrastructure of the major carriers. They buy network services in bulk from these major players and pass some of the savings to their subscribers. MVNOs offer lower cost cell phone plans with benefits that local residents find attractive.
VoIP service providers make up a third phone service option for residents of Kenton County and the rest of Kentucky. VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is a communication technology that enables voice transmission over the internet. VoIP phone service providers send voice and video signals over the internet as data packets. VoIP phone service relies on broadband internet and costs less than traditional alternatives for residents with pre-existing internet access in their homes or offices.
What are Kenton County Phone Scams?
Kenton County phone scams are telephone frauds targeting residents of the county. Scammers use a number of phone services and tools to find new targets and turn them to scam victims. They abuse phone technologies such as robocalls, caller ID spoofing, and phishing to defraud their victims and steal valuable information such as identity and financial records. However, residents of Kenton County can fight back with phone technologies such as call blocking and reverse phone lookup. These help them avoid phone scams and unmask scammers impersonating loved ones and authority figures.
In addition to using such tools to avoid and identify phone scammers, residents of Kenton County also need to learn about prevalent phone scams in their communities. The most common telephone frauds reported in the Commonwealth of Kentucky include sweepstakes scams, romance scams, grandparent scams, and technical support scams.
What are Kenton County Sweepstakes Scams?
These scams involve strangers calling to congratulate unsuspecting residents about winning expensive prizes. Sweepstakes scammers usually impersonate Publisher’s Clearing House. However, they can also claim to be from other organizations hosting sweepstakes. A scammer running this con informs the target that they must pay a certain fee to claim their winning. They may claim this fee is for taxes or processing the prize. After paying this fee, the scammer stops communicating with the target. In some cases, sweepstakes scammers will send their victims checks but these are counterfeit.
If you receive a call from a stranger claiming you won a lottery or sweepstakes, submit their phone number for a reverse phone lookup search. The result may show that the caller is not affiliated with Publisher’s Clearing House or the lottery/sweepstakes organizations they mentioned. A lookup search may also turn up reports about phone scams perpetrated with that number.
The Office of the Attorney General of Kentucky advises residents to hang up immediately when contacted by people claiming to be from Publisher’s Clearing House. This organization does not contact winners by phone. Also, it is illegal for a lottery/sweepstakes organization to request an advance fee before releasing a prize.
What are Kenton County Romance Scams?
Romance scams are long cons targeting lonely hearts. Fraudsters running romance scams create multiple profiles on dating apps and websites to fish for targets and then keep in touch by phone. They sound devoted and call regularly but avoid meeting their targets. Soon, the scammers claim they need financial help to come meet their victims or to travel outside the control. They may ask for money for emergencies or pay off their debts.
A free reverse phone lookup can help confirm that a love interest is a scammer. This search may indicate that the caller is not who they say they are or where they claim to live. The key to avoiding romance scams is verifying the other party’s identities and claims before falling head over heels for them. Insist on meeting them in person early on in the relationship and well before sending them money.
What are Kenton County Grandparent Scams?
These scams target elderly residents and prey on their love for their grandchildren. In a grandparent scam, a stranger calls and claims to be the target’s grandchild or a lawyer representing the grandchild. They make up stories about emergencies requiring urgent financial help such as accidents, trouble with the law, or being stranded in a foreign country. They ask that the victim send money by wire transfer, prepaid debit card, or gift card to cover hospital bills, legal fees, or flight ticket.
Kentucky’s Attorney General advises elderly residents to hang up if they receive such calls. They should then contact the grandchildren in question directly or other family members to confirm the stories they heard even if informed to keep these a secret. To identify a fraudster trying to run a grandparent scam, the target can use a reverse phone number lookup to find out who called.
What are Kenton County Technical Support Scams?
Technical support scams involve strangers calling to provide help with made-up issues about their targets’ computers. These scammers often claim to represent big tech companies like Microsoft and scare their targets by insisting their computers are infected by viruses or running too slow. They ask for remote access to these machines and may even instruct their victims to open their bank’s websites in their browsers.
Tech support scammers may bill their victims for bogus and unnecessary repairs and tech support. They may also steal the passwords to their banking accounts or lock them out of their machines until they pay a ransom. A quick suspicious phone number lookup is often enough to confirm that a stranger offering technical support is not an employee of the tech company they claim to represent. Even if your phone’s caller ID shows that the call is coming from this company, you can safely hang up when the caller asks for remote access to your computer. Tech companies do not provide unsolicited customer support and do not call their customers with offers to remove viruses from their machines.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls and spam calls are unsolicited calls sent out in bulk to large groups of phone users. A robocall is an automated call placed by an auto-dialer repeating a pre-recorded message. When they were first introduced, most robocalls were from political campaigns, telemarketers, and organizations sending out public service announcements. However, the ease of deploying them and their low cost made them appealing to scammers looking for cheaper ways to find more targets.
While a robocall is sent by a machine, a spam call may come from an actual person charged with calling a long list of phone users. Both types of calls can be annoying and overwhelming. The average American phone user receives an increasing amount of these unsolicited and unwanted calls. To stop robocalls and spam calls, or at least reduce the number received, residents of Kenton County should consider the following actions:
- Do not pick calls from unknown numbers and persons. Let the calls go to voicemail and call back real callers you wish to contact
- Hang up on a robocall or spam call as soon as you realize what they are. If you listen long enough to be told how you can remove your number from their call list, do not follow the instructions given as these often sign you up for more robocalls and spam calls
- Identify the persons behind robocalls and spam calls with reverse phone number lookup. This will be useful when report illegal robocalls, phone stalkers, and phone scammers to law enforcement
- Registry your phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. Legitimate telemarketers know to stop contacting numbers added to this registry. Robocalls received after 31 days of joining this registry are likely from scammers and dishonest telemarketers
- Set up your phone to block calls from unknown numbers or select phone numbers. Carriers also offer call blocking functions. Contact yours to see if you can sign up for this service. There are also call-blocking third-party apps that screen incoming calls against blacklists updated by users flagging numbers used for scam and spam calls
How to Spot and Report Kenton County Phone Scams
It is important to know that anyone can be a victim of a phone scam. Besides using helpful tools like call blocking and phone number lookup, residents of Kenton County should also educate themselves about common phone scams in the state and new tactics used by scammers. Kentucky’s Attorney General provides a helpful resource on phone scams to help educate residents of the state. The Office of the Attorney General also lists several red flags that residents should watch out for to avoid phone scams. These tell-tale signs of telephone frauds include:
- High-pressure sales tactics - scammers peddling investment and business frauds often pester their targets, refuse to take no as an answer, and try to convince them they are missing out on huge opportunities
- Threats - scammers pretending to be authority figures try to scare their targets by threatening them with arrests, jail, deportation, and license revocation
- Immediate commitment - scammers give their victims very little time to make decisions. They know that after careful consideration, most people will see that their claims are false
- Requesting payment via unofficial channels - scammers want payments made by cash, prepaid debit cards, gift cards, and wire transfers. Some may even insist on getting paid by cryptocurrency or mobile payment apps like Venmo. Money sent through these channels are often irreversible and hard to trace
- Failure to provide references and written documentation - most phone scams are really simple enough that fraudsters cannot provide documents to support their claims and identities. They are also reluctant to answer probing questions about their organizations
It is important for Kenton County residents to report all cases of phone scams whether these are successful or not. Reporting scams helps everyone. Law enforcement and consumer protection/advocacy groups can use such information to identify, locate, and apprehend fraudsters. They also use these reports to educate the public about current scam trends in the communities they serve. Residents of Kenton County can report phone scams to the following agencies:
- The Office of the Attorney General of Kentucky - this office accepts reports of consumer frauds and phone scams targeting residents of the state. Submit a fraud or scam report online using the Secure Online System provided on the Office’s website or by calling (888) 432-9257
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - The FTC is the federal consumer protection agency. Residents can report all scams involving unfair and deceptive business practices to the FTC on its fraud complaint webpage
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - The FCC is the federal agency responsible for monitoring and administering all forms of communication in the US. Investigating and prosecuting phone scams fall under its purview. Report telephone frauds as well as illegal robocalls, caller ID spoofing, phishing, and spam calls to the FCC’s Consumer Complaint Center