Scam Calls from Area Code 831

Area code 831, assigned to California's central coast and anchored around Salinas and Marina, is generating complaint activity well beyond what its regional footprint would suggest. Across 208 distinct numbers, the code has accumulated 445 total complaints since February 2026, with activity flagged as ongoing through June 2026. Complaints have surfaced not only in California but in New York and Pennsylvania, and reported origination points stretch as far as Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina, indicating that spoofed 831 numbers are being used by operations with no geographic connection to the code itself.

The two dominant complaint categories are impersonation calls and debt-reduction solicitations, with 78 and 76 complaints respectively. 831-298-4508 is the leading impersonation number with 9 complaints, followed by 831-291-5274 with 6. On the debt side, 831-236-6459 accounts for 9 complaints, consistent with robocall-style credit card and mortgage pitches. Forty-eight complaints fall under dropped calls or no message, a pattern often associated with number validation sweeps; 831-850-0052 leads that cluster with 7 complaints and 831-207-4201 contributes 5 more.

The top number overall is 831-667-2890 with 11 complaints, and 831-231-2405 follows with 8. Neither carries a category in the complaint data, but their complaint counts place them among the most active numbers in the code.

Medical and prescription solicitations account for 10 complaints, with 831-230-3509 the sole identified number in that group at 6 complaints. Energy, solar, and utilities calls add 7 more. Together these secondary categories reflect a code being used across a notably broad range of pitch types simultaneously.

At rank 291 out of 358 area codes overall, 831 is not a dominant source nationally, but among California codes specifically it sits at 42 of 51, meaning it outpaces a meaningful share of its in-state peers. The spread of complaint locations, the volume of impersonation and debt calls, and the presence of high-count uncategorized numbers suggest the code is actively cycled through by multiple distinct operations using it as rotating cover, a pattern that tends to persist and broaden rather than self-correct.