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'415' Area Code Phone Numbers Selling For Thousands Of Dollars As Supply Runs Short

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- With 415 area code phone numbers in short supply, at least one company is capitalizing on high demand by selling them for thousands of dollars.

Ed Mance runs the PhoneNumberGuy, which has been stockpiling the now-sought-after phone numbers, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Mance says that prices for the 415 numbers are priced as high as $9,999.

Erin Loscocco bought one of the numbers from Mance because the area code held a connection for him.

"Personally, I identify with the Bay Area and with San Francisco," he told the WSJ.  "It shows where I'm from."

As of February 1, the new 628 area code 'overlay' went into effect. Increasing consumer demand prompted the Public Utilities Commission to add the 628 area code to the region that has been using 415 since 1947: San Francisco, most of Marin County, and a small portion of San Mateo County.

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