540 Area Code: Roanoke, Virginia
Area code 540 serves Roanoke, Fredericksburg and Harrisonburg, Virginia in the Eastern time zone, in service since 1995. Consumers have filed 6,599 unwanted-call complaints against 5,743 different 540 numbers, 680 of them with the FTC in the last 30 days. Look up the exact number that called you below.
Area code 540 at a glance
- State
- Virginia
- Main cities
- Roanoke, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Winchester, Culpeper, Staunton + 109 more
- Counties
- Roanoke city, Rockbridge County, Harrisonburg city, Winchester city + 36 more
- Local time
- —Eastern
- In service since
- July 15, 1995
- Split from
- 703
- Overlay code
- 826 (2022)
- Codes split off
- 276 (2001)
- Local dialing
- 10 digits (area code + number)
- Exchanges
- 117 rate centers, 786 prefixes
Sources: NANPA area code and central office code records (refreshed weekly); cities and counties matched from US Census Bureau and USGS place names.
Most-reported 540 numbers
Ranked by FTC Do Not Call complaints this month, then all-time FTC and FCC complaints. Only numbers with enough complaints for a full report page are listed. Click one for what it was reported for and where.
What calls from 540 numbers are about
3,369 FTC Do Not Call complaints about 540 numbers since Jul 24. The most common named subject is debt-relief pitches, at 23% of complaints (89% of those were recorded messages). Overall, 79% of callers who answered said the call was a robocall.
FTC complaint subjects
- Other / unspecified1,28838%
- Debt reduction78023%
- Impostor (government, business, family)49815%
- Medical & prescriptions2989%
- Dropped call / no message2026%
- No subject given1625%
- Warranties & protection plans421%
FCC complaints by call type, last 2 years
- Prerecorded Voice27758%
- Live Voice14931%
- Text Message5411%
11% of recent FCC complaints about 540 numbers are about text messages, not calls.
When 540 spam calls come in
29% of complaints that give a call time describe calls between 10am and 1pm. 93% came Monday to Friday, most on Tuesdays, the pattern of call-center robocall campaigns that run on business hours. Times are as consumers reported them to the FTC.
By hour of the day
By day of the week
Is it getting worse?
673 FTC complaints about 540 numbers in the last four weeks, down 36% on the four weeks before. FCC complaints about 540 numbers peaked in 2017 (538); the FTC's daily Do Not Call data has carried most of the volume since mid-2026.
FTC complaints per week
FCC complaints per year
Years shown as '15 to '26; the current year is partial.
Who gets these calls
51% of the FTC complaints about 540 numbers came from people whose own phone number also starts with 540, and 58% from Virginia. Calls that look local to the person receiving them are the signature of neighbor spoofing: robocallers display a number from your own area code because you're more likely to answer.
Where complainants live
- Virginia1,93858%
- California1735%
- Florida1615%
- Illinois1043%
- Texas903%
What people with 540 numbers report
People whose own number starts with 540 filed 4,217 FTC complaints since Jul 24. 40% were about calls showing another 540 number. The most common named subject was debt-relief pitches.
Area codes on the calls they reported
- 540 (same code)1,70340%
- 833 (toll-free)1864%
- 888 (toll-free)1664%
- 877 (toll-free)1594%
- 855 (toll-free)1443%
Likely campaigns using 540 numbers
Groups of numbers that drew the same FTC complaint in the same pattern over the last 60 days. The grouping is statistical and doesn't identify who is calling.
Busiest 540 prefixes this month
FTC complaints in the last 30 days, grouped by the first six digits. When one prefix collects complaints about many different numbers, a campaign is usually cycling through that block. The carrier is who NANPA assigned the prefix to, not who made the calls.
Carriers operating in 540
NANPA has assigned 786 540 prefixes (NPA-NXX central-office codes) across 117 rate centers: 33% to wireless carriers, 62% to landline and VoIP operators; 80% are pooled blocks shared by several carriers. The newest assignment was 2023-09-28. The carrier holding a prefix is who the number was issued through. It says nothing about who is calling, since caller ID is routinely spoofed.
| Carrier | Type | Prefixes | Rate centers | Newest assignment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verizon (landline) | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 155(20%) | 48 | 2008-08-04 |
| Verizon Wireless (Cellco Partnership) | Wireless | 79(10%) | 22 | 2023-09-12 |
| AT&T Mobility (New Cingular Wireless PCS) | Wireless | 66(8%) | 25 | 2021-10-08 |
| Omnipoint Communications Cap Operations, LLC | Wireless | 64(8%) | 18 | 2023-08-10 |
| Level 3 (Lumen) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 50(6%) | 35 | 2022-04-08 |
| Verizon (landline) | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 35(4%) | 16 | 2003-07-16 |
| Onvoy (Sinch) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 30(4%) | 25 | 2023-09-21 |
| Brightspeed of Virginia, LLC | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 28(4%) | 15 | 2001-06-13 |
| Metro by T-Mobile (MetroPCS) | Wireless | 25(3%) | 13 | 2018-12-07 |
| Bandwidth.com | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 24(3%) | 20 | 2020-09-30 |
| UScellular | Wireless | 23(3%) | 11 | 2021-05-14 |
| Comcast (Xfinity Voice) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 21(3%) | 16 | 2021-09-09 |
Largest rate centers (exchanges) by prefixes: Roanoke (105), Fredericksburg (63), Harrisonburg (43), Winchester (38), Culpeper (33), Staunton (29), Blacksburg (21), Christiansburg (18), Radford (18), Stafford (18). Source: NANPA Central Office Code Utilized Assignments (public, refreshed weekly).
What to do about calls from 540 numbers
Before you call back
- Debt reduction is the top named complaint here. Don't pay upfront fees for debt relief; the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule bans them. Talk to your lender or a nonprofit credit counselor instead. Read about debt-relief robocalls.
- Look up the full number above. A missed call from 540 with no voicemail is usually a robocall; anyone who needs you will leave a message.
- If it looks like a neighbor's number, it may be spoofed. See calls from your own area code.
- Block repeat callers: iPhone, Android, or your carrier's free filter (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile).
Report it in Virginia
- Unwanted sales calls and robocalls: donotcall.gov (FTC). Scams and fraud: ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
- Spoofing, texts and call-blocking problems: FCC consumer complaints.
- State complaints: Virginia Attorney General.
- Virginia formally adopted the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry as its own state list rather than running a separate one, so a single free registration at donotcall.gov covers you. State authorities can still enforce against telemarketers who ignore it, in addition to any federal penalty.
Your FTC and FCC reports are published (without your name or number) in the datasets this page is built from. How to report unwanted calls.
Area code 540: questions answered from the data
Where is area code 540?
Area code 540 serves Roanoke, Fredericksburg and Harrisonburg, Virginia, covering Roanoke city, Rockbridge County and Harrisonburg city and 37 more counties. It has been in service since July 15, 1995. It was split from area code 703.
What time zone is area code 540 in?
Area code 540 is in the Eastern time zone (UTC−5, or UTC−4 during daylight saving time). The current local time is shown at the top of this page.
Which area codes overlay 540?
826 (in service 2022) serves the same area as 540. New numbers there can be issued with any of these codes, and local calls need all 10 digits. A spoofed call can display any of them.
What are calls from 540 numbers usually about?
Since Jul 24, consumers filed 3,369 FTC Do Not Call complaints about 540 numbers. The most common named subject was debt-relief pitches: 23% of complaints, 89% of them recorded messages. Across all subjects, 79% of callers who answered the question said the call was a robocall.
When do 540 spam calls happen?
29% of the complaints that give a call time describe calls between 10am and 1pm, and 93% came on weekdays, most often on Tuesday. Times are as consumers reported them.
Are calls from 540 numbers really local?
Not necessarily. 51% of the FTC complaints about 540 numbers came from people whose own phone number also starts with 540, and 58% from Virginia. Calls that look local to the person receiving them are the signature of neighbor spoofing: robocallers display a number from your own area code because you're more likely to answer.
Are 540 robocalls increasing?
In the four weeks to Oct 20, consumers filed 673 FTC complaints about 540 numbers, 36% fewer than the four weeks before.
How do I report a 540 scam call in Virginia?
Report unwanted sales calls and robocalls to the FTC at donotcall.gov, and scams to ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FCC takes complaints at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov. In Virginia, the Virginia Attorney General also handles consumer complaints about scam calls. Reports feed the public data this page is built from.
Overlay and nearby area codes
Sources: FTC Do Not Call complaints (unverified consumer reports), published every weekday and available here from Jul 24; FCC Consumer Complaint Data, public record, imported nightly; NANPA numbering records. A number appearing here means consumers reported calls that displayed it. Caller ID can be spoofed.