Because some countries in the Caribbean have what appear to be North American telephone area codes (with the Bahamas having an area code of 242 and the Cayman Islands having an area code of 345), a rather common telephone area code fraud is to fool people into calling these numbers even though they believe that they are telephoning a United States or a Canadian jurisdiction where fraud laws apply. The unsuspecting target often faces not only large telephone bills but also invoices for products or services that are fraudulent.

A Website with more information on the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) can be found at http://www.nanpa.com/. This site provides information about the numbering plan for the Public Switched Telephone Network for Canada, the United States (and its territories), and the Caribbean.

See Also: Fraud; Jurisdiction; Network.