862 Area Code — Newark, New Jersey
About the 862 Area Code
Area code 862 serves Newark, New Jersey, a major coastal metropolitan area known for high telecommunications density and early adoption of advanced calling services. All major national carriers—AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile USA—operate extensive networks here. Newark and East Orange are the main hubs, and the area code runs on Eastern time.
Key Information
- Region: Newark
- State / Province: New Jersey
- Timezone: Eastern
- Major Cities: Newark, East Orange
Area Code Overview
Area code 862 was introduced in 2001 as an overlay for 973, sharing identical coverage across Essex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties in northern New Jersey — Newark, Paterson, Clifton, Passaic, Morristown, Parsippany, and Montclair. Like 551 and 848 in their respective NJ territories, 862 numbers are newer-era mobile and VoIP assignments layered over the existing 973 geographic footprint with no distinct geographic identity of their own.
Passaic County, which includes Paterson, is home to one of the most diverse cities in New Jersey — with large Dominican, Bangladeshi, Peruvian, and Arab-American communities. Paterson's silk-weaving and manufacturing heritage has evolved into a mixed industrial and immigrant community economy. Essex County includes both the urban core of Newark (the largest city in New Jersey) and wealthy suburban municipalities like Montclair and Livingston. This demographic range makes 862 territory simultaneously relevant to urban immigrant community fraud and suburban professional credential phishing.
Scam Patterns in 862
Paterson Immigrant Community Remittance and Hawala Fraud
Passaic County's large Dominican, Bangladeshi, and Arab-American communities maintain active financial ties to families abroad, making remittance services a routine part of daily life. Scam texts from 862 numbers impersonate Western Union, MoneyGram, or community-specific transfer services popular in Paterson, claiming a transfer has been held for verification, an account has been flagged, or a new identification requirement must be met before funds release. A more targeted variant poses as a community member or mutual aid contact, requesting an urgent personal transfer to resolve a family emergency overseas — a scam pattern that exploits community solidarity and trust.
Essex County Healthcare Network Credential Phishing
RWJBarnabas Health, the largest healthcare system in New Jersey, operates multiple hospitals within Essex County, including Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Clara Maass Medical Center, and Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center. Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston and Hackensack Meridian Health also operate in the region. Scam texts from 862 numbers impersonate these healthcare systems' IT departments or employee benefits platforms, claiming that hospital employee portal access, Epic EHR credentials, or benefits enrollment will expire without immediate verification. Healthcare professionals hold high-value credentials — both for patient data access and for fraudulent billing schemes.
Nonprofit and Community Organization Grant Impersonation
Newark is home to a dense network of community development organizations, faith-based nonprofits, social service agencies, and arts organizations — many of which actively apply for and receive foundation grants, city contracts, and state funding. Scam texts from 862 numbers impersonate program officers from foundations like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (headquartered in NJ), the Victoria Foundation, or NJ State grant programs, claiming that a nonprofit has been preselected for funding and must complete an online application or pay a "grant administration fee" to access the award. Community organizations operating on thin margins are particularly vulnerable to advance-fee grant fraud.
VoIP and Spoofing Risk Assessment
Risk Level: HIGH
862's overlay status and modern number pool make it entirely mobile and VoIP-era, with no legacy landline infrastructure. The remittance fraud pattern in Passaic County is especially resistant to detection: remittance services genuinely contact customers via text for transfer confirmations, and community members conducting regular overseas transfers may not immediately recognize a fraudulent message as distinct from a real service notification. The healthcare credential phishing pattern is sophisticated and specifically targets the high-credential healthcare workforce that is disproportionately concentrated in Essex County.
What To Do If You Receive a Text From an 862 Number
Step 1: Verify remittance transactions through official service apps only. Access Western Union at westernunion.com, MoneyGram at moneygram.com, or your remittance provider through their official app. Call the provider's customer service number from their official website before acting on any text about a held transfer.
Step 2: Look up the number. Search at Who Sent That Text Message for prior reports, especially for money transfer holds, healthcare portal alerts, or grant notification texts.
Step 3: Verify any grant notification through the foundation's official contact. Real program officers communicate through verifiable organizational email addresses and published phone numbers. Search the foundation's name at grantspace.org or the foundation's official website — not through any link or contact in a text.
Step 4: Report. Forward to 7726 (SPAM). Report remittance fraud to the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Report healthcare credential phishing to the HHS Office of Inspector General at oig.hhs.gov. File with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
What area code is 862?
Area code 862 serves northern New Jersey — including Newark, Paterson, Clifton, Morristown, and Parsippany — as an overlay for 973, introduced in 2001. Both 862 and 973 cover identical territory across Essex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties.
Is area code 862 used for scams?
862 is a legitimate North Jersey area code. Documented scam patterns include remittance and hawala fraud targeting Passaic County's immigrant communities, Essex County healthcare network credential phishing, and nonprofit grant advance-fee fraud targeting Newark-area community organizations. Verify any unknown 862 text involving money transfers, employee portal alerts, or grant notifications before responding.
What makes healthcare credential phishing particularly dangerous in Essex County?
The density of major hospital systems in Essex County — RWJBarnabas, Hackensack Meridian, and others — creates a large population of healthcare workers who regularly receive legitimate IT and HR notifications via text. Scammers exploit this familiarity: a credential expiration warning from what appears to be a hospital IT system arrives in a context where such messages are expected. Compromised healthcare credentials can be used for both direct account access and for fraudulent Medicare/Medicaid billing, making them valuable targets well beyond the initial phishing effort.
Related Area Codes
- 973 — The original Northern NJ code that 862 overlays; identical geography covering Newark, Paterson, and Morristown.
- 201 — Northern NJ (Jersey City, Hoboken, Bergen County). Adjacent to 862/973 territory across the Passaic River.
- 908 — Central-West NJ (Elizabeth, Union and Somerset counties). Borders 862/973 territory to the south.
Carriers & Network Type for 862 Numbers
Network mix: Mixed — 862 numbers include mobile, landline, and VoIP lines.
Common Scam Patterns
FCC complaint data for 862 numbers includes:
- Robocall/Auto-dialer
- Spoofed caller ID
- IRS/Government impersonation
- Tech support scam
If You Got a Text from 862
Who Typically Calls from the 862 Area Code?
Area code 862 serves Newark, New Jersey, a major coastal metropolitan area known for high telecommunications density and early adoption of advanced calling services. All major national carriers—AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile USA—operate extensive networks here. Newark and East Orange are the main hubs, and the area code runs on Eastern time. Calls from 862 numbers originate in Newark, New Jersey. Residents, local businesses, schools, medical offices, and government agencies in this region all use 862 numbers. If you received an unexpected call or text from a 862 number, it may be a neighbor, a local service provider, or — in some cases — an unwanted solicitor.
Because 862 is a legitimate, widely used area code, scammers sometimes spoof it to make their calls appear local and trustworthy. This technique — called neighbor spoofing — makes it more likely that recipients will answer. A reverse phone lookup is the fastest way to find out whether a 862 number is genuinely local or spoofed.
Is a 862 Phone Number Spam?
Not all 862 calls are spam, but the area code is not immune to robocall campaigns and phone scams. Common complaints about 862 numbers include warranty extension scams, debt collection harassment, IRS impersonation calls, and unsolicited insurance offers.
If a 862 number called you and didn't leave a voicemail, that's a red flag — legitimate callers typically leave a message. Use Who Sent That Text Message to look up the number instantly and see whether other users have flagged it as spam.
You can also report a suspicious 862 number directly from our lookup results, helping protect others in the community from the same caller.
Look Up a 862 Number Now
Enter any 862 area code phone number below and get instant results — carrier, line type, caller name (where available), and spam reports submitted by real users.
Other Area Codes in New Jersey
New Jersey has multiple area codes serving different regions. If the number you received isn't from 862, check one of the other New Jersey area codes below.