The 949 area code covers the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Santa Ana, and Westminster in Orange County, California; and the city of Newport Beach in the county of Newport Beach.
What is the 949 area code?
The 949 area code is used to serve many different areas in California.
Due to phone exchanges from CLLI (Common Language Location Identifier), there are technically around 22 unique codes or LATA’s.
The 6-digit NPA and 7-digit phone number combination vary by the exchange as well.
When you’re dialing a long-distance number you’ll want to include either a 1 + area code (and sometimes country code) or an 011 + country code.
Don’t rely on your provider’s instructions for entering these and always confirm with them directly.
Some companies will connect without it but others won’t; be sure to check first if they can not answer your question immediately. If they can then you can assume that if they aren’t adding it then it isn’t necessary.
949 area code location:
The 949 area code (or overlay) is an overlay added to southern California’s existing area code, 310. Though it started as an all-new area code in 2009 (overlaying 310), it isn’t yet a new calling code: either 714 or 310 are needed to complete a call.
However, eventually, calls will be completed exclusively with 949 numbers. And even though there are still plenty of 310 numbers available for use at present time–over 3 million of them. The new 949 area code is expected to run out of available phone numbers before 2020 rolls around.
Thus any new mobile or landline phones that are purchased for service within southern California may need to have a 949 prefix on them.
It covers neighborhoods including Irvine, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, San Clemente, Laguna Hills, part of Costa Mesa, Las Flores, Laguna Niguel, Newport Coast, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Santa Ana Heights.
What are the scams associated with this number?
Usually, robocalls try to lure you into listening to a sales pitch. (Similar to 900 area codes.) Remember – these people are scammers!
They’re trying to steal your money. Don’t give them your credit card information or any other sensitive information. Hang upon them!
If you received a legitimate call from an actual person and want more information about it, Google it – don’t call back! You might get another scammer who will try to take advantage of you.
Remember: if they ask for personal information and seem shady in any way, they’re most likely scammers.
Legitimate companies won’t ask for credit card numbers over the phone. Also, be aware that many scammers now use toll-free numbers to make their calls appear legit.
If you receive a call from 949 and they say something like This is Microsoft tech support then hang up immediately! Microsoft doesn’t make cold calls like that! It’s always best to do some research online before calling anyone back.
How much does it cost to call a 949 number?
Some 949 numbers can cost as much as $2.99 per minute. The amount you are charged depends on what city and state you call from and where it is that you are calling.
For example, if you live in California and dial a 949 number that is located in New York City, your phone company will charge more than it would if you called a 949 number while living in New York City, to begin with.
Be sure to check with your local phone company regarding these costs before calling any non-local area code numbers.
If you don’t want to be surprised by unexpected charges, ask your provider about how they handle calls made to toll-free numbers or international calls.
Also, note that some companies have different rates for long-distance and toll-free calls so make sure you know which type of call you’re making before dialing.
Why would I call a 949 number?
You wouldn’t necessarily. Most telemarketers, survey takers, and other companies you might want to avoid don’t have local area codes or even toll-free numbers — they just rely on spam text messages to get your attention.
However, it’s also worth pointing out that many legitimate businesses do use local numbers and toll-free numbers — so it pays to be cautious with these callers as well.
If a 949 caller starts asking you for personal information (such as your Social Security number) or your credit card number right off the bat, hang up immediately.
If they are offering a product or service you were interested in but they ask too many questions before getting down to business (such as what kind of phone you own), then hang up immediately.
Should I bother answering calls from the 949 area code?
If you find yourself getting frequent calls from phone numbers with a 949 area code and aren’t familiar with any local businesses in that area, you may be tempted to just ignore them.
After all, no one wants to talk to a telemarketer about car insurance or unwanted credit cards.
But there is nothing inherently nefarious about receiving calls from 949 (unless it’s an old friend or significant other calling from that region).
You shouldn’t ignore them—especially if it appears to be someone trying to scam you. While scams can take on many forms, fraudulent sales pitches via phone are surprisingly common—and increasingly sophisticated.
How do block calls from the 949 area code?
If you want to block calls from the 949 area code and never receive any phone calls from the 949 area code again then you can try a reverse phone lookup service.
These services will allow you to look up information about any phone number in an instant and find out exactly who has been calling you all these times.
If there’s no name attached to that number then it’s usually a safe bet that you don’t know who’s calling or if it’s even someone that you want to talk to at all.
Try looking up any numbers that have called your cell phone in recent weeks just because so long as they’re not private numbers and it’ll be much easier for you to block the 949 area code from calling your cell phone number ever again.
This is by far one of the easiest ways to stop unwanted calls from happening. Blocking a 949 area code phone number is something that should only take a few minutes but could save you hundreds of hours of frustration trying to get rid of those pesky telemarketers.
The process itself should be simple enough, but depending on how many numbers are being blocked may take some time to do since each caller must be looked up individually by their name or address.
It’s definitely worth it though once everything is said and done since there won’t be any more annoying salesmen interrupting your day with unwanted call after call after call.
Also, check out “475 Area Code”, 844 area code, and “704 Area Code”
Hi I’m Bilal Malik, a digital marketing and blogging expert holding years of experience.