14
Six Area Codes In Which At Least One Collection Agency Is Located
6. 847 (Illinois, including Cook County)
5. 605 (all of South Dakota)
4. 850 (the Florida panhandle)
3. 414 (Milwaukee County)
2. 301 (western Maryland)
1. 407 (Orlanda, FL metro area)
Luke Mazur would suggest screening numbers with these area codes, but only insofar as that suggestion is not commentary.
301 isn't western Maryland. It's post-410 and pre-240 maryland.
(There's a big difference between a 301 in MoCo and a 301 in Allegany, homeboy!)
I thought 410 ended circa Annapolis, and was primarily the telephonic milieu of the Eastern Shore land lines and pre-443 cell phones? *Still have 301 number from like 10 years ago ugh*
The shorter list is those without.
Are 'collections agencies' the next economic bubble!?
#zen koans
Not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything, but some collection agencies have also been known to spoof their caller IDs so that recipients don't get wise as far as which numbers to avoid.
Cough.
Because I live my entire life in front of a computer (at the very least the hours in which collection agencies are permitted to call) I actually type the number into Google as it is calling and answer only if it turns out to be a safe number. It works. If it's a collection agency, somebody will let you know through a google result.
Here's a better question: why the hell are you people answering your phones?
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847 is the northwest burbs of Chicago. I suggest avoiding them completely, not just their area code.
Agreed, except for the zoo, six flags, the botanic gardens and Ravinia. Or, you know, them too.
It seems like most financial companies including banks and credit card companies block their calling name or number. But thank God for caller Id. If I don't see a name and number then I don't answer.
I haven't answered a phone in five years.
Protip: Tell them you inherited the phone number from that last guy. The above actually happened to me (I also got invited to his business school reunions, go figure), and they requested no kind of verification before taking the # off their list.
I still have a 407 #, y'all. Please don't block my calls.