Unrecognised number Sheffield: Scam calls from Sheffield area most often linked to credit and insurance fraud

A study has been carried out to estimate which of the UK’s area codes are most likely linked to bogus and nuisance calls from scam artists.

In the last 12 months, an estimated 29,885 unrecognised calls from an ‘0114’ number were logged on the anti-scam database website UnknownPhone.com.

It indicates that the Sheffield area code is the 16th most frequent number in the UK used by hoax and nuisance callers.

Further, the study of UnknownPhone’s data said unknown or bogus calls from 0114 numbers were most often linked to credit and insurance scams.

It compares to London’s, which was logged 628,200 times by people suspicious of receiving an unrecognised ‘020’ number, making it the most likely number used to make bogus calls.

UnknownPhone.com allows users to log and look up unrecognised numbers they receive to see if they are linked to scams.

The site says there are several ways to avoid falling for scam calls and to cut the number of calls they receive.

If you frequently receive phone calls from unsolicited numbers, try talking to your phone company and reporting the numbers. Most phone companies can provide free services and advice to help block unwanted calls or reduce nuisance calls.

A telephone preference service can also be used to add your number to a list of number that don’t want to receive sales and marketing calls from any legitimate company.

It also suggests installing a call-blocking app to intercept calls and block numbers that are known to be linked to scams.