Michigan Residents: Don't Answer Calls From These Area Codes

We all see those random numbers pop up on our phones, assume it's a spam caller or bill collector, and choose not to answer. At the same time, others choose to respond and give them a piece of their mind or play along with the gig. Lastly, there are a handful that innocently answer the call and fall for the sly words.

It's evident that the scammers have gotten better throughout the years and it's becoming increasingly difficult to discern the difference between what is legit and what is a scammer trying to run your pockets. I can't even begin to think about the amount of spam calls we receive in a day, week, month, or year. Luckily, there has been some data and they have been able to narrow down the style of call and area codes of scammers.

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Spoofing is one of the main techniques used by scammers to trick people into answering their calls and trying to swindle them out of cash or other personal information. Spoofing is when a caller falsifies their caller ID information so that it comes up as a number/name you are more likely to answer. Most cell phone providers have started to help with this process by labeling these calls with "Spam Likely" but they can't catch every call.

The struggles of knowing whether or not someone is a spam caller are coming to an end. Thanks to Go Banking Rates there is a list of the most common area codes used for spam calls and their location those area codes belong to. They were able to find the 19 most used area codes and they are listed below:

216: Cleveland, Ohio
218: Northern Minnesota
232: Sierra Leone
268: Antigua and Barbuda
284: British Virgin Islands
332: New York City
347: New York City
469: Dallas, Texas
473: Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique
649: Turks and Caicos Islands
646: Manhattan
657: La Palma, California
664: Montserrat
712: Western Iowa
767: Commonwealth of Dominica
809: Dominican Republic
829: Dominican Republic
849: Dominican Republic
876: Jamaica

Beware when these area codes pop up on your screen if you don't immediately know the number DON'T ANSWER and save yourself the headache.

8 Things To Do If You Paid A Phone Scammer

Merciless phone scammers are targeting unaware folks with schemes involving pleas for charity, car warranties, unpaid traffic tickets, you name it. The Federal Trade Commission says, "Scammers often ask you to pay in ways that make it tough to get your money back. No matter what payment method you used to pay, the sooner you act, the better."

If you have paid one of these scammers and then realize you have been scammed, here are 8 tips from the Federal Trade Commission, on what to do if you have paid a scammer.