Scam Calls from Area Code 220

Area code 220, Ohio's overlay for the central and southern parts of the state, has generated 401 complaints across 189 distinct numbers since February 2026, with activity still ongoing as of June 2026. Complaints cluster around Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Mansfield, though receivers in California and Texas have also logged reports, indicating that spoofing of the 220 prefix extends well beyond Ohio's borders. At rank 295 out of 358 area codes tracked, the overall volume is modest, but among the 44 Ohio-adjacent and state-assigned codes, 220 sits at 41st out of 44, placing it near the bottom of its regional peer group by complaint load.

The two largest complaint categories are debt-reduction solicitations, with 54 complaints, and impersonation calls pretending to be government agencies, businesses, or family members, with 53. Those two categories together account for more than a quarter of all logged complaints. Dropped or silent calls add another 68 complaints, suggesting a meaningful share of dialing activity is either robotic probing or abandoned autodial traffic that never delivers a message.

The single most-complained-about number, 220-699-0765, has drawn 14 complaints, making it the clear outlier among active numbers in this code. It carries no category tag in the complaint data, leaving its pitch unknown, but its complaint count is more than 50 percent higher than the next busiest number, 220-222-8711, which accounts for 9 complaints and is associated with dropped or silent calls. Numbers 220-265-0395 and 220-299-6195 follow with 8 and 7 complaints respectively; the latter also has no recorded category. A tight cluster of numbers in the 220-208-xxxx range, specifically 220-208-2821, 220-208-2631, and 220-208-2818, each logged 4 to 5 complaints, with 220-208-2818 tied to energy and utilities pitches. The numerical proximity of those three numbers suggests they may share infrastructure or originate from a single campaign rotating across lines.

FCC records tied to this code are sparse at just three filings, but the call-mode breakdown from those records shows 17 live-agent calls against 14 prerecorded, a near-even split that differs from codes dominated heavily by robocall blasting. That balance between live and automated delivery, combined with the high volume of impersonation and debt-reduction complaints, points to operation sets that can shift delivery method, likely to improve answer rates or adapt to call-blocking tools. The threat profile for 220 is one of low-to-moderate scale but active diversification, with several numbers of unknown purpose still generating complaints and a spoofing reach that has already spread to consumers in two states outside Ohio.