415 Area Code

What 415 actually covers

415 is the area code of San Francisco and Marin County. The city itself, plus Sausalito, Mill Valley, San Rafael, Novato and the rest of Marin across the Golden Gate, all dial 415. A small strip of northern San Mateo County just south of the city line is included too.

It does not cover Oakland, Berkeley or the East Bay, which are 510 and 341, the Peninsula from Daly City down to Palo Alto, which is 650, San Jose and the South Bay, which are 408 and 669, or the Wine Country and north coast, which are 707. That matters more here than in most metros, because "the Bay Area" is often used loosely: a caller with a 415 number who says they are "in Oakland" or "at the Palo Alto office" has already given you a mismatch.

Since 2015 the whole 415 territory has shared a second code, 628, as an overlay. Any San Francisco or Marin address can have a number under either code, and every local call is dialled with ten digits.

How 415 got here

• October 1947: 415 was one of California's three original area codes, alongside 213 for Los Angeles and 916 for the north. It covered the whole of central and coastal Northern California, and for its first few years even Sacramento dialled 415.
• 1959: the South Bay was split off as 408 and the north coast as 707.
• September 1991: Oakland, Berkeley and the East Bay became 510.
• August 1997: most of San Mateo County became 650, drawing the line almost exactly at the San Francisco city limit. 415 was left with the city and Marin.
• March 2015: 628 was added as an overlay after the 415 pool ran low, and ten-digit dialling became mandatory.

Two decades of tech companies headquartered in the city have made 415 a recognisable code far beyond California. That is useful to know when a call arrives: a 415 caller ID reads as "San Francisco office", which is exactly why it is worth spoofing.

What a real 415 caller usually looks like

• Landline on an established carrier is what you should expect from City Hall, the courts, UCSF and the other hospitals, universities, banks and the older Financial District offices.
• Mobile 415 numbers are common. Cell phones carried 415 for years before 628 took most new assignments, so a mobile result on its own is neutral.
• VoIP results deserve a closer look, and they are unusually common in 415. Many legitimate tech companies and startups run their phones through app-based or cloud providers, so a VoIP line is not automatically suspicious here. A VoIP line with an unfamiliar reseller, claiming to be a police station or a utility, is.
• Ported is frequent because the area has been split three times and because people move between the city, the Peninsula and the East Bay with their numbers.

The line type does not identify the caller, but it tells you whether the caller's story fits.

Scams that use 415 caller IDs

Police warrant and jury duty calls. The San Francisco Police Department has issued repeated alerts about callers who spoof SFPD phone numbers, including a district station's real line, claim there is a "failure to appear" warrant for missed jury duty or unpaid fines, and demand payment by prepaid card, historically Green Dot cards. The calls have used real judges' names, real court addresses and the target's actual home address to sound credible. SFPD states it does not make cold calls asking for personal information or payment. Hang up and check any jury summons with the Superior Court's jury services office directly.

"Chinese police" and insurance-claim calls targeting Chinese speakers. In 2025 SFPD reported a trend of Mandarin and Cantonese calls in which someone claiming to be from a local health insurer's claims department asks whether the victim recently had surgery in China, then "transfers" the call to people posing as Chinese police who say the victim's identity was used in a fraud. Some victims were put on video calls with suspects in Chinese police uniforms in front of a fake station backdrop, told to move the conversation to an encrypted app, and instructed to wire money to "clear their name"; one reported loss was $23,000. Chinese police have no authority in the United States and never contact people here by phone.

PG&E disconnection threats. A caller claims to be PG&E, says service will be cut within the hour and demands payment by prepaid card, cryptocurrency or a payment app. PG&E says it never sends a single notice within an hour of a shut-off and never asks for payment by prepaid card, gift card, crypto, Zelle or Venmo. In 2026 the company also warned about a variant that texts a barcode to scan at a store. Its dedicated line for suspicious contacts is 1-833-500-7226 (1-833-500-SCAM), and 1-800-743-5000 confirms whether someone is on official business.

Bank and "fraud investigator" calls. SFPD has also warned about callers posing as SFPD investigators looking into "fraudulent charges" flagged by the victim's card issuer, who then ask for Social Security and account numbers. Neither the police nor a real bank fraud desk needs a one-time code sent to your phone.

Recruiter and investment pitches. A local flavour: unsolicited calls about a job at a well-known company, an equity "pre-IPO" allocation or a crypto opportunity, often from a 415 number to look like a San Francisco firm. Real recruiters do not ask for a fee or your bank details, and no licensed adviser sells securities by cold call.

Neighbour spoofing. Robocall operations display a 415 number sharing your first six digits so the call looks like it comes from your block. The number shown usually belongs to an unrelated resident, which is why some 415 numbers collect reports from people who were never actually called by them.

How to check a 415 number

1. Enter the ten-digit number in the panel at the top of this page. The 415 is already filled in.
2. Compare the line type and carrier with what the caller claimed. Police stations, courts and utilities call from established landlines, not VoIP resellers.
3. Read the risk level and community reports. Several "scam" or "robocall" reports within days of each other mark a live campaign.
4. Still unsure? Unlock the risk details for the fraud score and abuse history, or call the organisation back on the number printed on its official site or your bill.

Where to report a 415 scam call

• San Francisco District Attorney, Consumer Fraud Hotline: 628-652-4311, with help in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog and Russian.
• SFPD: file a police report online at sanfranciscopolice.org (English, Spanish or Mandarin), or call 311 from inside the city, 415-701-2311 from outside.
• California Attorney General, Public Inquiry Unit: 800-952-5225, or the online complaint form at oag.ca.gov.
• PG&E: 1-833-500-7226 to report a utility impersonation call.
• Federal Trade Commission: reportfraud.ftc.gov. Reports feed the complaint data carriers use to block robocallers.
• CallerTracer: report the number on the Who Called Me page or straight from a lookup result. It shows on this page and on every lookup of that number within minutes.

Frequently asked questions

Is 415 only San Francisco?

San Francisco and Marin County, plus a small piece of northern San Mateo County. The same area also uses 628. Oakland is 510, the Peninsula is 650 and San Jose is 408.

Are new 415 numbers still issued?

Yes, but most new lines since 2015 come out as 628 because the 415 pool is nearly full. An older business or long-time resident is more likely to hold a 415.

Does a 415 number mean the caller is in San Francisco?

Only that the number was issued there. Mobile and VoIP numbers move with their owners, and a spoofed call can show any number at all. Use the carrier and line type from a lookup, not the area code, to judge where a call came from.

What time zone is 415?

Pacific Time, with daylight saving from March to November. The clock at the top of this page shows the current time in San Francisco.

Which area codes are next to 415?

628 shares the same area. 510 and 341 cover the East Bay, 650 the Peninsula, 408 and 669 the South Bay, and 707 Sonoma, Napa and the north coast.