Telephone numbers in the Dominican Republic
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[edit] Area code 809
Area code 809 is a telephone area code serving the Dominican Republic, with 829 as an overlay, and 849 added as a second overlay in mid-2009. Numbers in the Dominican Republic use the US country code, 1, followed by the area code in the same form as an internal US area code.
The area codes 809 and 829 are telephone area codes solely for the Dominican Republic. Following Saint Vincent and the Grenadines leaving 809 in 1999, no other countries use the legacy 809 area code.
When in the Dominican Republic, the 3-digit area code followed by the 7-digit phone number must be dialed. When calling the Dominican Republic from the United States or Canada, this must be prefixed by the digit "1".From other countries the international prefix used in the originating country must be dialled before the "1".
The 849 area code has been assigned to the Dominican Republic; it is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2009.
[edit] 809 scam
Some telephone fraud scams once revolved around the 809 area code; it was being used since it has a higher than normal rate. The victim receives a message on their answering machine to call a number with an 809 area code. Since there were many new area codes being introduced in the US, the victim thinks nothing of it and dials the 809 number. The number dialed is set up as a premium rate with an exorbitant per-minute charge. The victim is then put on hold indefinitely, and billed for each minute they are on hold. This is actually perfectly legal, because the telephone regulations in the Dominican Republic don't require premium rate numbers to be declared.[1]
[edit] The 809 scam spam (email forward)
Around 1996, an email from Scambusters.org appeared, warning about the 809 and other Caribbean area codes scams, and this (legitimate) warning began to make the rounds of forwarded emails. As usual with such forwards, people have modified it from its original form to make it appear more urgent. Untruths and exaggerations in the resulting hoax email warning now include the following:
- The hoax email warns against ever dialing this area code, when in truth, most phone numbers in the 809 area code are not scams, and it's perfectly all right to call someone you know who lives in this area code. The original recommendation was not to return calls from people you don't know who claim that you have won something, or have some trouble with a credit card that needs to be cleared up "immediately", or who claim that a family member of yours has been taken ill, or who offer you a job, etc.
- The hoax email asks you to forward it to every friend and family member you know, thus making a chain letter. Scambusters, the originator of the warning email, does not ask people to forward their emails.
- The hoax email warns of outrageous sums that might be charged, such as US$2,400 per minute, or sums totalling up to $10,000.00 (the original warning was for charges that were "reportedly as high as $25.00" per minute, and included a surmise that you might be taken for $100.00).
- The hoax email claims that the 809 area code is new, though it has been in operation for many years.
- The hoax email places the 809 area code in the "British Virgin Islands (the Bahamas)" which is an error copied from the original email.
[edit] Area code 829
Area code 829 for the Dominican Republic operates as an overlay for the local (809) telephone area code.
The dual area code system was added to local telephony in July 2005 and later mandatory in November 2005. The new telephony rules were almost wholly due to the explosive growth of the cellular population in the Dominican Republic, starting in the mid-1990s with telephone prepaid-cards being the main propulsion, and growing incredibly through the early 2000s with the launch of two new cell-phone carriers making the major-cellular provider count four nationwide. The 809 area-code, which used to be the default legacy area-code for many other Caribbean areas, including Puerto Rico. In the mid-1990s, the 809 was split and eventually just assigned to the Dominican Republic. Also, the reason for this newly placed dual area code system is that it is estimated the standard 7-digit area-code could hold around 9.5 million number combinations, and currently there are around 1.6 million land-based lines and 4.2 million cellular phones. Thus it was decided to attach another area-code to this country, because of the extensive growth and threat of number depletion.
[edit] Area code 849
Area code 849 for the Dominican Republic is scheduled to operate as an overlay for the local (809) and (829) telephone area codes.
The triple area code system is scheduled to go into effect on on July 1, 2009.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ "NPA 849 to Overlay NPA 809/829 (Dominican Republic)". http://www.nanpa.com/pdf/PL_387R1.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-04-15.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA)
- Telecommunications in The Caribbean
- Federal Communications Commission regarding the 809 scam
- AT&T webpage regarding the 809 scam and subsequent spam. Retrieved September 17, 2007.
- scambusters.org webpage regarding the spammed version of their 809 warning. Retrieved May 7, 2006.
- List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 809 Area Code
- List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 829 Area Code
- List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 849 Area Code
| Country of Dominican Republic Area codes: 809, 829, 849 | ||
|---|---|---|
| North: 649 | ||
| West: Country code +509 in Haiti | Area code 809/829/849 | East: 787/939 |
| South: Caribbean Sea | ||
| Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Area codes: 787, 939 | ||
| Turks and Caicos Islands Area code: 649 | ||
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