740 Area Code: Newark, Ohio
Area code 740 serves Newark, Lancaster and Portsmouth, Ohio in the Eastern time zone, in service since 1997. Consumers have filed 3,971 unwanted-call complaints against 3,403 different 740 numbers, 472 of them with the FTC in the last 30 days. Look up the exact number that called you below.
Area code 740 at a glance
- State
- Ohio
- Main cities
- Newark, Lancaster, Portsmouth, Zanesville, Athens, Marion + 176 more
- Counties
- Licking County, Fairfield County, Muskingum County, Washington County + 29 more
- Local time
- —Eastern
- In service since
- December 6, 1997
- Split from
- 614
- Overlay code
- 220 (2015)
- Local dialing
- 10 digits (area code + number)
- Exchanges
- 187 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 740 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 740 numbers are about
1,650 FTC Do Not Call complaints about 740 numbers since Jul 24. The most common named subject is debt-relief pitches, at 19% of complaints (91% of those were recorded messages). Overall, 60% of callers who answered said the call was a robocall.
FTC complaint subjects
- Other / unspecified58636%
- Debt reduction31519%
- Impostor (government, business, family)22614%
- Medical & prescriptions16910%
- Dropped call / no message16610%
- No subject given946%
- Home improvement & cleaning463%
FCC complaints by call type, last 2 years
- Prerecorded Voice9048%
- Live Voice7439%
- Text Message2413%
13% of recent FCC complaints about 740 numbers are about text messages, not calls.
When 740 spam calls come in
30% 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?
465 FTC complaints about 740 numbers in the last four weeks, down 4% on the four weeks before. FCC complaints about 740 numbers peaked in 2018 (484); 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
53% of the FTC complaints about 740 numbers came from people whose own phone number also starts with 740, and 58% from Ohio. 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
- Ohio95358%
- California17110%
- Florida775%
- Texas412%
- New York372%
What people with 740 numbers report
People whose own number starts with 740 filed 1,677 FTC complaints since Jul 24. 52% were about calls showing another 740 number. The most common named subject was impostor calls (people pretending to be a government agency, a business or family).
Area codes on the calls they reported
- 740 (same code)87552%
- 833 (toll-free)513%
- 614493%
- 877 (toll-free)352%
- 234322%
Busiest 740 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.
| Prefix | Complaints | Numbers | Carrier | Exchange |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (740) 413-xxxx | 13 | 13 | Level 3 (Lumen) | Ashley |
| (740) 394-xxxx | 12 | 6 | Ameritech (AT&T) | Shawnee |
| (740) 410-xxxx | 11 | 7 | Level 3 (Lumen) | Beverly |
| (740) 786-xxxx | 10 | 10 | Onvoy (Sinch) | Somerton |
| (740) 300-xxxx | 9 | 9 | Bandwidth.com | Nelsonville |
Carriers operating in 740
NANPA has assigned 786 740 prefixes (NPA-NXX central-office codes) across 187 rate centers: 29% to wireless carriers, 70% to landline and VoIP operators; 83% are pooled blocks shared by several carriers. The newest assignment was 2025-08-20. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Communications | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 123(16%) | 76 | 2012-08-10 |
| Ameritech (AT&T) | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 105(13%) | 58 | 2001-06-26 |
| Verizon Wireless (Cellco Partnership) | Wireless | 82(10%) | 33 | 2024-12-05 |
| Aerial Communications, INC. | Wireless | 66(8%) | 23 | 2024-01-04 |
| Level 3 (Lumen) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 63(8%) | 49 | 2019-09-25 |
| AT&T Mobility (New Cingular Wireless PCS) | Wireless | 62(8%) | 36 | 2022-08-26 |
| Onvoy (Sinch) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 57(7%) | 55 | 2025-08-20 |
| Brightspeed of Northwest Ohio, INC. | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 31(4%) | 25 | — |
| Twc Ip Enabled Services, LLC | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 31(4%) | 31 | 2023-08-22 |
| Windstream | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 21(3%) | 12 | 2018-03-06 |
| Windstream | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 19(2%) | 5 | 2017-06-01 |
| Chillicothe Tel. CO. | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 16(2%) | 10 | 2012-02-06 |
Largest rate centers (exchanges) by prefixes: Newark (33), Lancaster (29), Portsmouth (28), Zanesville (25), Athens (23), Marion (21), Chillicothe (20), Delaware (19), Steubenville (19), Mount Vernon (17). Source: NANPA Central Office Code Utilized Assignments (public, refreshed weekly).
What to do about calls from 740 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 740 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 Ohio
- 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: Ohio Attorney General.
- Ohio 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 740: questions answered from the data
Where is area code 740?
Area code 740 serves Newark, Lancaster and Portsmouth, Ohio, covering Licking County, Fairfield County and Muskingum County and 30 more counties. It has been in service since December 6, 1997. It was split from area code 614.
What time zone is area code 740 in?
Area code 740 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 740?
220 (in service 2015) serves the same area as 740. 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 740 numbers usually about?
Since Jul 24, consumers filed 1,650 FTC Do Not Call complaints about 740 numbers. The most common named subject was debt-relief pitches: 19% of complaints, 91% of them recorded messages. Across all subjects, 60% of callers who answered the question said the call was a robocall.
When do 740 spam calls happen?
30% 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 740 numbers really local?
Not necessarily. 53% of the FTC complaints about 740 numbers came from people whose own phone number also starts with 740, and 58% from Ohio. 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 740 robocalls increasing?
In the four weeks to Oct 20, consumers filed 465 FTC complaints about 740 numbers, 4% fewer than the four weeks before.
How do I report a 740 scam call in Ohio?
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 Ohio, the Ohio 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.