01

What Is Area Code 310?

Area code 310 is a California telephone area code serving the western and southwestern portions of Los Angeles County, broadly known as West LA and the South Bay. Its footprint includes some of the most recognizable communities in the country: Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu, Inglewood, El Segundo, Hawthorne, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Culver City, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula, among others. The area code also covers the unincorporated communities along the coast and reaches inland to portions of the San Fernando Valley's western edge.

310 was created on November 2, 1991, when it split from the original 213 area code, which had served all of Los Angeles County since the North American Numbering Plan was established in 1947. As Southern California's population exploded and demand for telephone numbers outpaced supply, regulators carved 310 out to serve the western half of the county. In 2006, the 424 overlay area code was introduced to supplement 310 after its number pool became critically depleted, meaning both area codes now serve the same geographic territory and new subscribers may be assigned either prefix.

02

West LA / South Bay Cities and Coverage Area

Area code 310 blankets dozens of distinct communities stretching from the Santa Monica Mountains down to the tip of the Palos Verdes Peninsula and across the South Bay coastline.

  • Santa Monica — A coastal city home to Santa Monica College, the Third Street Promenade, and major healthcare campuses including Providence Saint John's Health Center.
  • Beverly Hills — Famous for Rodeo Drive and celebrity residences, it hosts major talent agencies, luxury hotels, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center nearby on its border.
  • Inglewood — A rapidly redeveloping South Bay city anchored by SoFi Stadium, the Kia Forum, and Hollywood Park, and home to Los Angeles International Airport's immediate neighbor communities.
  • Culver City — A creative industry hub housing Amazon Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and a thriving arts district along Culver Boulevard.
  • Manhattan Beach — An affluent coastal South Bay city known for its pier, beach volleyball culture, and headquarters of major companies including Skechers USA.
  • Torrance — The largest South Bay city by area, home to Toyota's North American headquarters, Torrance Memorial Medical Center, and El Camino College.
  • Malibu — A 21-mile coastal enclave in the Santa Monica Mountains known for its celebrity estates, Pepperdine University, and Pacific Coast Highway corridor.
  • El Segundo — A small but commercially dense city anchoring the aerospace corridor with employers such as Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, and located directly adjacent to LAX.
  • Redondo Beach — A seaside South Bay community with a busy pier, a large marina, and residential neighborhoods popular with aerospace and tech workers.
  • Palos Verdes Estates — A hillside enclave on the Palos Verdes Peninsula offering dramatic ocean views, equestrian trails, and some of the highest property values in Los Angeles County.

The 424 area code serves as a full overlay across the entire 310 geographic region, so calls from 424 numbers originate from the same West LA and South Bay communities and should be evaluated with the same scrutiny.

03

Common Scam Calls from Area Code 310

IRS and Government Impersonation

Scammers frequently spoof 310 numbers to pose as IRS agents, Social Security Administration representatives, or Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, knowing that a local-looking number lends false credibility. Targets in the South Bay and West LA areas have reported receiving threatening calls claiming unpaid tax debts or suspended Social Security numbers, with callers demanding immediate payment via wire transfer or prepaid gift cards to avoid "arrest."

Utility Shutoff Threats

Fraudsters impersonating Southern California Edison or the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) call with urgent warnings that service will be disconnected within the hour unless a payment is made immediately over the phone. Because 310-area residents genuinely use these utilities, the ruse is particularly convincing. Real utility companies will never demand same-day payment by phone to avoid shutoff.

Entertainment Industry and Casting Scams

Given the concentration of studios, talent agencies, and production companies in Culver City, Beverly Hills, and Santa Monica, scammers exploit the 310 prefix to pose as casting directors or talent scouts. They promise roles or modeling contracts in exchange for upfront "registration fees" or request personal financial information for a fake direct-deposit setup, targeting aspiring actors and models throughout Los Angeles County.

Mortgage and Real Estate Fraud

With some of the highest real estate values in the nation, the 310 corridor is a prime target for mortgage relief scams. Callers claim to represent lenders or government housing agencies and offer dramatically reduced interest rates or foreclosure rescue services, asking homeowners to pay fees in advance or to sign over limited power of attorney — surrendering control of their property in the process.

Warning signs: Hang up immediately if a caller demands urgent payment, threatens arrest or service cutoff, asks you to pay with gift cards or wire transfers, requests your Social Security number or bank account details, or refuses to let you call back on a publicly listed number to verify their identity.
04

How to Look Up a 310 Phone Number

If you've received an unfamiliar call from a 310 number, these steps will help you identify the caller quickly and safely.

Google the number

Type the full 10-digit number into Google exactly as it appeared on your caller ID, including dashes or parentheses. Many scam numbers accumulate complaint threads on forums, news articles, or consumer protection sites within days of an active campaign — a simple search often surfaces immediate red flags or confirms a legitimate business.

Check spam-report databases

Dedicated crowd-sourced sites like 800notes, WhoCallsMe, and CallerSmart aggregate real user reports about specific phone numbers. Search the 310 number on each platform to read firsthand accounts from other people who received calls from the same number, which can quickly reveal whether it belongs to a known robocall operation or telemarketing campaign.

Run a reverse phone lookup

A reverse phone lookup service searches public records, carrier data, and aggregated databases to return the registered name, address history, and associated records for a number. This method yields the most complete results and is especially useful when free searches come up empty — a situation common with newer numbers, prepaid lines, or spoofed caller IDs frequently used by scammers operating in the 310 area.

Contact your carrier

AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile all offer free call-labeling and spam-detection tools built into their networks. Reaching out to your carrier's customer service or enabling their native app features can help you retroactively flag a number and automatically screen similar calls going forward.

05

Is Area Code 310 Safe?

The vast majority of calls from 310 numbers are completely legitimate. The area code serves a dense, economically active region packed with hospitals, universities, corporations, and government offices that place millions of routine calls every day. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA Health clinics in Santa Monica, the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County offices, Northrop Grumman, and hundreds of law firms and financial institutions all operate within the 310 footprint and routinely call patients, clients, employees, and residents using numbers bearing this prefix.

The complication is spoofing. Modern voice-over-IP technology allows anyone anywhere in the world to display any number they choose on your caller ID — including a legitimate 310 number belonging to a real local business. This means that a call appearing to come from a Beverly Hills law firm or a Santa Monica clinic could in fact originate from a fraud operation thousands of miles away. The area code alone tells you nothing definitive about whether a call is safe.

Context is your best guide. If you were expecting a call from a West LA business or institution, a 310 number makes sense. If the call is unsolicited, the caller is creating urgency, or the request involves money or personal information, treat it with caution regardless of what the caller ID displays, and verify through an independently sourced phone number before taking any action.

06

How to Block 310 Numbers

On iPhone

Open the Phone app and navigate to your Recent Calls list. Tap the information icon (ⓘ) next to the 310 number you want to block, then scroll to the bottom and select "Block this Caller." iOS will prevent that specific number from calling, sending texts, or reaching FaceTime. You can review or remove blocked numbers at any time under Settings → Phone → Blocked Contacts.

On Android

Open the Phone app and locate the number in your call log. Press and hold the entry or tap the three-dot menu, then select "Block number" or "Block/report spam." On Samsung devices, you can also go to Settings within the Phone app and manage a full block list. Google Pixel phones include a built-in Call Screen feature that uses automated assistants to answer and transcribe suspicious calls before they reach you.

Through your carrier

  • Verizon — Call Filter (free tier) automatically labels suspected spam calls and allows manual number blocking; the paid Call Filter Plus tier adds a personal spam list and reverse number lookup directly within the app.
  • AT&T — ActiveArmor provides free real-time fraud call blocking, spam risk warnings, and a quarantine inbox for suspected robocalls; the Advanced tier adds enhanced identity monitoring features.
  • T-Mobile — Scam Shield comes free for all T-Mobile customers and includes Scam Likely labeling, scam call blocking, and a free proxy number option; the premium tier adds Caller ID and reverse lookup capabilities.

Apps & the Do Not Call list

Third-party apps such as Nomorobo, Hiya, and RoboKiller maintain constantly updated databases of known robocall and scam numbers and can intercept unwanted 310 calls before your phone ever rings. For telemarketing calls specifically, registering your number at donotcall.gov places you on the National Do Not Call Registry, which legitimate telemarketers are legally required to honor.

07

Recent Reports from 310 Numbers

The following are representative examples of call types recently reported by consumers who received calls from 310 numbers.

310-555-0143Scam

Multiple users reported receiving calls from this number claiming to be the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, warning of an outstanding warrant and demanding immediate payment via prepaid Visa cards to avoid arrest. No such warrant process exists by phone.

310-555-0188Robocall

Callers received an automated message offering "exclusive" mortgage refinancing rates for properties in the South Bay and West LA area, prompting recipients to press 1 to speak with a loan officer. The number disconnected when called back directly.

310-555-0264Identity theft

This number was used in a phishing scheme in which callers posed as representatives of a Santa Monica-area credit union, claiming the recipient's debit card had been compromised and requesting full card numbers and PINs to "issue a replacement."

310-555-0391Telemarketing

Reported as an unsolicited telemarketing call promoting solar panel installation services targeting homeowners in Torrance and Redondo Beach. Callers persisted through multiple requests to be removed from the contact list.

310-555-0507Spoofed

Caller ID displayed a number matching a real Culver City production company, but the caller requested a wire transfer for a fake film investment opportunity. The actual company confirmed they had never made outbound fundraising calls from that number.

Got a suspicious 310 call? Report it to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

08

Frequently Asked Questions About Area Code 310

Is area code 310 a scam?
Area code 310 is not a scam area code — it is a legitimate North American Numbering Plan prefix assigned to West Los Angeles and the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. Millions of residents, businesses, hospitals, and government agencies use 310 numbers daily for completely normal purposes. However, because caller ID spoofing allows fraudsters to display any number they choose, a 310 prefix on your caller ID is not a guarantee that the call is legitimate. Evaluate each call based on its content, not just its area code.
What city is area code 310?
Area code 310 covers dozens of cities and communities in western and southwestern Los Angeles County, California. Major cities served include Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Malibu, Culver City, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, El Segundo, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula communities. The 424 area code overlays the same geographic area and serves the same cities.
How do I find out who called me from 310?
Start by searching the full 10-digit number on Google to surface any consumer complaints or business listings. Next, check crowd-sourced databases such as 800notes, WhoCallsMe, or CallerSmart for user reports tied to that specific number. If those free methods don't return useful results — which is common with spoofed, VoIP, or prepaid numbers — a reverse phone lookup service that searches public records and carrier data will typically provide the most complete identification information.
Can I block all calls from area code 310?
Technically, some carrier-level tools and third-party apps allow you to create wildcard rules that block entire area codes, but this approach is not generally recommended for 310 because it would also block calls from legitimate Los Angeles-area doctors, employers, schools, businesses, and government offices. A better strategy is to block specific numbers that have bothered you, enable your carrier's spam-detection service, and use a call-screening app to intercept unknown numbers before they interrupt you.
Is 310 a mobile or landline area code?
Area code 310 is not exclusively assigned to either mobile or landline phones — it serves both. When the area code was established in 1991, it was primarily associated with traditional landlines, but today 310 numbers are assigned to mobile phones, VoIP lines, landlines, and business systems throughout the West LA and South Bay service territory. The type of line associated with a specific 310 number can usually be identified through a reverse phone lookup that queries carrier assignment databases.

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