Country Code 44

How to Reach the UK with Country Code 44 and a Warning

In order to place calls internationally, you will need to use more numbers than usual. For instance, if you are calling the United Kingdom, you will need to use the Country Code 44 in addition to some other numbers. When dialing internationally, you need to tell the phone company that you want to dial outside of your own country. Essentially, you tell them this by using numbers. You use a set of numbers called the IDD (International Direct Dialing Number). These numbers vary depending upon which country you are in.

If you are in the United States, the IDD is 011. After the IDD, you will need to tell the phone company which country you are calling. You, of course, do this with another set of numbers called the country code. If you are calling England, Scotland or Wales, you will need to use the country code 44. This alerts the phone company to route your call to the United Kingdom. Then, you will need to enter the persons number. If you are calling the United Kingdom, you will drop the 0 that you would normally use if you were dialing them while you were both in the UK. Similarly, if you were outside of the United States and you were calling someone who was in the United States, you would drop the prefix 1. After the IDD, the Country code, and the dropped prefix, you dial their number as usual.

This technique will work on most phones unless the phone owner has blocked international dialing. If you need to call the United Kingdom, it will be very expensive if you do not have an international dialing plan. Calling a number with the Country Code 44 could cost a dollar a minute or more if you have not set up an international plan. In order to set up a plan, you should contact your phone service provider. They may be able to give you a range of options. The most popular dialing plans from the United Sates charge a monthly fee that varies from 5 to 10 a month. Then, it adds an additional charge of 5 to 25 cents a minute. Most service providers will vary this charge depending upon whether you are calling a landline or a cell phone. Calling cell phones is typically more expensive.

If someone with the Country Code 44 calls your cell phone, you may not see their entire number in the caller ID screen. If you want to enter their number into your phone, you will need to enter it along with the IDD and the country code. Only by doing this will you be able to call them with the touch of one button. Once you have set up an international dialing plan and you have entered all the numbers, you will be able to call the UK as often as you like. Keeping in touch via phone is a relatively easy and low-cost way to maintain contact. However, it is important to keep the time difference in mind, as you do not want to wake up anyone in the middle of the night accidentally.

Here is some numbers to look out for if you've been asked to dial a number in the UK:

If you've received an email with a telephone number that starts with 70 (that is +44 70) then you will want to be careful ... the +44 70 numbers are called 'personal number' services in the UK. These are telephone numbers set up to forward to another number. Usually scammers are using these numbers and they are forwarded to Nigeria - to Nigerian scammers or other people who wish to relieve you of your money without giving you anything for it.

If you're curious, do a web search via Google, Bing, or Yahoo! for the number - this will usually show you other scams that have used the same +44 70 number that you have received in your email or text message.