What are San Juan County Area Codes?
Area codes were established as part of the North American Numbering Plan in the 1940s. This added some form of automation to telephony communications which previously relied on human operators for connecting long-distance calls. The United States was separated into geographical areas which were assigned area codes. These area codes are three-digit area codes that identify the origin and destination of calls. The codes are assigned as prefixes to existing seven-digit telephone numbers. You can find the area code of any geographical area in the United States by using an area code lookup tool online.
There is currently only one area code serving San Juan County – Area code 505.
Area Code 505
Area code 505 is one of the original 86 area codes created by AT&T and the Bell System in 1947. It initially served the entire state of New Mexico. Area code 505 was split in 2007 to form area code 575. Locations served by this area code include Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Farmington, South Valley, and Gallup.
What are the Best Cell Phone Plans in San Juan County?
With more and more people using wireless telephony service as their go-to option for voice communications in San Juan County, cell phone plans have become all too common to find. Estimates from a 2018 study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics revealed that 66.4% of New Mexico residents above the age of 18 used wireless-only telephony service, while only 4.1% used wired-telephony service. Among residents below the age of 18, 81.5% used wireless-only telephony service, while only 1.8% used wired-telephony service exclusively.
In San Juan County, you will be able to choose between a family plan, an individual postpaid line, or a prepaid plan that presents no long-term contract or device financing requirements from the majority of the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). Family plans are popular and more fitting for families or small businesses intending to share single accounts. Individual plans are suitable for persons who do not want to share expenses and device upgrades with friends or family members. Typically, individual plans are more expensive than family plans. Prepaid plans have become more ubiquitous but usually offer more data at lower costs than individual plans. Such plans may be ineligible for device financing.
Choosing the right plan requires consideration of the types of services a person really needs. However, these needs are secondary to finding out the network coverage in your area for the wireless provider you intend to sign up with. In the county seat of Aztec, AT&T has the best overall coverage with a score of 98%. Verizon's coverage is rated 60%, while Sprint and T-Mobile's network coverage scores are poor.
If you choose not to use any of the four major MNOs, you can also purchase a plan from any of the Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). MVNOs are smaller carriers typically offering wireless plans on subscription bases. Their plans are often cheaper than plans from the MNOs. Although they do not own their own infrastructure, they lease services from the MNOs and are able to offer lower costs to end users because they do not have to build or maintain infrastructure.
San Juan County is currently witnessing an accelerated adoption of mobile VoIP with many residents opting for VoIP telephony and VoIP phone plans to lower communications costs. With VoIP, users of the same application type are only charged for data use. VoIP plan subscribers can also call regular lines at lower costs compared to the alternatives. VoIP uses broadband internet connections or IP networks to make communications possible. Unlike cell phones or landline telephony which requires a lot of overhead costs, VoIP services use existing infrastructure to facilitate communications.
What are San Juan County Phone Scams?
Criminals will use any con to wrongfully obtain personal information from residents or steal their money. When these cons are carried out using phone calls, text messages, or phone calls, they are called phone scams. Con artists use auto-dialers and spoofed area codes to trick people into picking up the phone. From there, it is a numbers game. Scammers want to get as much personal information from the call recipients as possible. That can include anything from names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers to credit card numbers. San Juan County residents may use free reverse phone lookup tools to ascertain the true origins of suspicious phone numbers.
What are San Juan County Utility Scams?
Phone scammers try to trick targets out of their money or get access to your personal information in the utility scam by posing as employees of water, electric, or gas companies. Scammers say San Juan county residents owe money in unpaid utility bills which must be paid within a short period of time, typically within a few hours. These con artists threaten service disruption or complete disconnection if targets do not pay through wire transfers or gift cards. Phone lookup applications can help uncover the true identities of scam callers.
What are San Juan County Jury Duty Scams?
In the jury duty scam, targets receive phone calls with caller IDs appearing to be from the San Juan County Sheriff's Office with the callers using actual employees' or fictitious names to appear legitimate. These callers claim that targets missed federal court appearances for which they were subpoenaed. They say targets now have federal warrants for their arrests for missing court dates.
Usually, scammers ask targets to buy up to several thousands of dollars of Green Dot cards or other gift cards. They then instruct the targets to read the numbers on the back of the cards over the phone. They may also ask targets to visit the San Juan County Sheriff's Office to verify their identities and further "straighten out the warrants." Reverse phone number lookup applications can prevent residents from falling victim to jury duty scams.
What are San Juan County Social Security Scams?
In the Social Security scam, scammers lead people to believe that they are representatives of the Social Security Administration and require them to provide their personal information or send money immediately. These scammers claim that the SSA will suspend or decrease social security payments or supplemental security income payments due to various reasons. They may say the government needs to cut down on benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic or that targets' accounts have been flagged for suspicious activities.
If personal information is not required such as Social Security numbers or bank account information, direct payments may be required through gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or by cash in the mail. You can use a reverse cell phone lookup tool to verify if a caller’s identity matches the name given.
What are San Juan County Ransom Scams?
Ransom scams happen when targets are told over the phone that family members have been kidnapped. Then, through threats and deceptions, con artists coerce targets to pay ransoms. The criminals may threaten harm to the targets if they call law enforcement or alert authorities. Although no persons are physically kidnapped in these schemes, the conditions created are often traumatic for everyone involved.
Callers sometimes represent themselves as members of drug cartels or law enforcement and provide targets with specific instructions to ensure the safe "return" of allegedly kidnapped relatives. These instructions usually involve demands of ransom payments. Most schemes use various techniques to instill a sense of fear, urgency, and panic in efforts to rush targets into making hasty decisions. Instructions provided usually require ransom payments to be made immediately and by wire transfers. If you are in doubt about the true identity of the person behind a call, you can use free reverse phone lookup tools online to identify who a number is registered to.
What are Robocalls and Spam Calls?
Robocalls are phone calls placed to telephone users using auto-dialers. Typically, these calls deliver pre recorded messages. Some robocalls are helpful, like calls informing you about flight delays, calls from your child's school or doctor's office. However, many other robocalls are just spam calls where the callers target many people in the hopes of defrauding call recipients.
Robocalls are annoying and intrusive with residents receiving multiple such calls per week. In 2020, over 194 million robocalls were placed to New Mexico residents. Between January and April 2021, these residents received more than 77 million robocalls, an average of 33.5 robocalls per resident.
To limit the chances of being fleeced by robocalls placed by scammers, you may use reverse phone lookup tools to verify the identity of incoming calls.
Other steps to take to stop robocalls include:
- 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 crooked individuals.
- 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, including services that can help conduct a suspicious phone number lookup or reverse phone lookup.
- Download and install a third-party call-blocking application 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.
- Install a good reverse phone lookup tool on your phone to find out who called and who the number is registered to.
- 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 San Juan County Phone Scams?
Phone scams are not a new thing, but today's scammers are more sophisticated and brazen. Scammers can spoof phone numbers from your local area code or numbers that you are familiar with. When they call, you may think that it is your relative or a neighbor. You may not know the difference until you have answered the call. An effective way to stop scams is to use reverse phone lookup tools to spot numbers related to scams from coming through. You should also be aware of the tricks used by fraudsters.
The following are red flags in identifying phone scams:
- The phone number does not display on your caller ID: It is best not to answer calls with hidden caller ID information. It is a common trick used by scammers to hide their identities.
- The caller uses high-pressure tactics and insists on an immediate decision: Con artists sometimes use scare tactics such as threats of arrests and imprisonments or motivate people with free prizes or awards to get to release sensitive information. They may even ask them to pay upfront fees in order to secure the prizes or gifts.
- The offer sounds too good to be true: An offer that sounds too good to be true probably is too good to true. Do not allow unknown callers to play on your emotions to steal your money or information.
- The caller requests your personal information: Instead of asking you to send money, phone scammers also try to obtain information such as Social Security numbers, bank account information, and credit card numbers to commit identity thefts. Do not release such private information to persons you do not know.
- The caller requests payment through specific methods: Wire transfers, gift cards, and reloadable cards are common methods through which crooked individuals demand payments on behalf of the organizations they supposedly represent. It is a red flag if an unsolicited caller only wants to receive payment through these means.
You can file complaints with any of the following public bodies if you have been contacted by a scammer:
- The San Juan 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 San Juan County Sheriff's Office at (505) 334-6622. In the county seat of Aztec, you can contact the Aztec Police Department at (505) 334-6622.
- The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office: To report a scam, you can file a complaint online to the Attorney General’s Office or call the Office’s toll-free line at (505) 490-4060 (Santa Fe), (505) 717-3500 (Albuquerque), (575) 339-1120 (Las Cruces). With the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General's Electronic Complaint Submission (ECS) application, you can also submit scam complaints to the Office without having to fill out paper forms.
- 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.
- 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.