843 Area Code: Charleston, South Carolina
Area code 843 serves Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Florence, South Carolina in the Eastern time zone, in service since 1998. Consumers have filed 4,309 unwanted-call complaints against 3,593 different 843 numbers, 418 of them with the FTC in the last 30 days. Look up the exact number that called you below.
Area code 843 at a glance
- State
- South Carolina
- Main cities
- Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Florence, Beaufort, Hilton Head Island, Conway + 80 more
- Counties
- Charleston County, Horry County, Florence County, Beaufort County + 15 more
- Local time
- —Eastern
- In service since
- March 22, 1998
- Split from
- 803
- Overlay code
- 854 (2015)
- Local dialing
- 10 digits (area code + number)
- Exchanges
- 93 rate centers, 783 prefixes
Sources: NANPA area code and central office code records (refreshed weekly); cities and counties matched from US Census Bureau and USGS place names.
Reported 843 numbers
No single 843 number has enough complaints yet for a full report page, so none are listed. Look up the exact number that called you: the lookup works on every US number, whether or not it has complaint history.
What calls from 843 numbers are about
1,370 FTC Do Not Call complaints about 843 numbers since Jul 24. The most common named subject is debt-relief pitches, at 14% of complaints (86% of those were recorded messages). Overall, 65% of callers who answered said the call was a robocall.
FTC complaint subjects
- Other / unspecified51337%
- Debt reduction19414%
- Impostor (government, business, family)19014%
- Medical & prescriptions18814%
- No subject given1058%
- Dropped call / no message786%
- Warranties & protection plans393%
FCC complaints by call type, last 2 years
- Live Voice15052%
- Prerecorded Voice8730%
- Text Message5118%
18% of recent FCC complaints about 843 numbers are about text messages, not calls.
When 843 spam calls come in
31% of complaints that give a call time describe calls between 10am and 1pm. 94% came Monday to Friday, most on Wednesdays, 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?
410 FTC complaints about 843 numbers in the last four weeks, level with the four weeks before. FCC complaints about 843 numbers peaked in 2017 (454); 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
62% of the FTC complaints about 843 numbers came from people whose own phone number also starts with 843, and 65% from South Carolina. 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
- South Carolina89765%
- California494%
- North Carolina413%
- Florida322%
- Texas292%
What people with 843 numbers report
People whose own number starts with 843 filed 2,316 FTC complaints since Jul 24. 36% were about calls showing another 843 number. The most common named subject was debt-relief pitches.
Area codes on the calls they reported
- 843 (same code)84336%
- 833 (toll-free)964%
- 803653%
- 877 (toll-free)502%
- 854472%
Busiest 843 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (843) 966-xxxx | 17 | 16 | Onvoy (Sinch) | Society Hill |
| (843) 984-xxxx | 12 | 12 | Peerless Network | Mount Pleasant |
| (843) 977-xxxx | 11 | 11 | Onvoy (Sinch) | Nichols |
| (843) 983-xxxx | 11 | 11 | Verizon Wireless (Cellco Partnership) | Andrews |
| (843) 960-xxxx | 10 | 10 | Onvoy (Sinch) | McColl |
Carriers operating in 843
NANPA has assigned 783 843 prefixes (NPA-NXX central-office codes) across 93 rate centers: 32% to wireless carriers, 63% to landline and VoIP operators; 60% are pooled blocks shared by several carriers. The newest assignment was 2024-07-03. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BellSouth (AT&T) | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 139(18%) | 27 | 2018-08-08 |
| Verizon Wireless (Cellco Partnership) | Wireless | 103(13%) | 30 | 2019-05-03 |
| T-Mobile USA | Wireless | 65(8%) | 14 | 2022-04-20 |
| PAETEC (Windstream) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 58(7%) | 30 | 2022-03-30 |
| Frontier Communications | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 57(7%) | 16 | 2017-02-28 |
| AT&T Mobility (New Cingular Wireless PCS) | Wireless | 53(7%) | 19 | 2024-07-03 |
| Level 3 (Lumen) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 40(5%) | 31 | 2010-08-05 |
| Twc Ip Enabled Services, LLC | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 26(3%) | 19 | 2023-11-13 |
| Horry Tel. Coop., INC. | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 24(3%) | 11 | 2007-04-26 |
| Brightspeed of South Carolina, LLC | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 16(2%) | 5 | — |
| Onvoy (Sinch) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 14(2%) | 10 | 2018-10-05 |
| Powertel Atlanta Licenses, INC. | Wireless | 14(2%) | 3 | 2015-01-12 |
Largest rate centers (exchanges) by prefixes: Charleston (186), Florence (57), Myrtle Beach (56), Beaufort (31), Hilton Head Island (28), Mount Pleasant (19), West Myrtle Beach (17), Georgetown (16), Summerville (16), Bluffton (13). Source: NANPA Central Office Code Utilized Assignments (public, refreshed weekly).
What to do about calls from 843 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 843 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 South Carolina
- 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: South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs.
- South Carolina does not run its own Do Not Call registry and has not formally adopted the federal list as a state list. The federal National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov still applies to you — register there, free, and it never expires.
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 843: questions answered from the data
Where is area code 843?
Area code 843 serves Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Florence, South Carolina, covering Charleston County, Horry County and Florence County and 16 more counties. It has been in service since March 22, 1998. It was split from area code 803.
What time zone is area code 843 in?
Area code 843 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 843?
854 (in service 2015) serves the same area as 843. 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 843 numbers usually about?
Since Jul 24, consumers filed 1,370 FTC Do Not Call complaints about 843 numbers. The most common named subject was debt-relief pitches: 14% of complaints, 86% of them recorded messages. Across all subjects, 65% of callers who answered the question said the call was a robocall.
When do 843 spam calls happen?
31% of the complaints that give a call time describe calls between 10am and 1pm, and 94% came on weekdays, most often on Wednesday. Times are as consumers reported them.
Are calls from 843 numbers really local?
Not necessarily. 62% of the FTC complaints about 843 numbers came from people whose own phone number also starts with 843, and 65% from South Carolina. 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 843 robocalls increasing?
In the four weeks to Oct 20, consumers filed 410 FTC complaints about 843 numbers, the same as the four weeks before.
How do I report an 843 scam call in South Carolina?
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 South Carolina, the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs 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.