Simple disposable phone numbers - for fun, profit and privacy

in #security8 years ago

Preface

Sometime your in a jam and need to give out a telephone number for some registration, online dating or posting an ad for sale. What ever the case might be you do not want to provide your real telephone number but need to be able to make and receive calls and send or receive text messages.
I would like to share a service that i have found that facilitate the above for a very reasonable price.

Not recommended for illegal use

Do not use the service outline below for illegal purposes!; you will most likely get caught. There a still plenty of use cases that make a disposable number useful and for the cost of $2 USD for 7 days its a bargain.

NumberProxy Disposable number service


NumberProxy.com
Number proxy provides you with a disposable mobile number and a means of redirecting call or routing calls via this number. They also support the ability to send messages and receive message or have them forwarded to your real number.
The service is very versatile and stands and a man in the middle of you communication path.

What countries numbers are supported?

Right now they have support for USA and Canada, with limited support for UK; they also have plans for 20 other countries

What is the pricing?

Number proxy works off a credit system; you buy credits and then use credits towards the services you require. The more credit you purchase up front the bigger discount you receive.

Price of Credits are listed below:

  • 3 Credits = $1.99 USD
  • 8 Credits = $4.99 USD
  • 15 Credits = $7.99 USD
  • 25 Credits = $11.99 USD
  • 100 Credits = $47.96 USD
  • 1000 Credits = $479.60 USD

Prices of services are listed below:

  • Short (3 credits) - Valid for 7 days, 20 talk minutes or 60 texts.
  • Standard (5 credits) - Valid for 30 days, 50 talk minutes or 150 texts.
  • Big (8 credits) - Valid for 30 days, 90 talk minutes or 270 texts.
  • Long (8 credits) - Valid for 60 days, 75 talk minutes or 225 texts.

What payment options are supported?

Bitcoin :)
Paypal and credit cards

What happens when my ProxyNumber expires?

Once your number expires, it will immediately go out of service. The call history and any messages will be securely deleted from our servers. If you need to keep your number active, you must recharge it before the expiration as once a number has expired it is gone forever.

How do I make a call from my ProxyNumber?

Placing a call is simple. Just call your own ProxyNumber from your private number. When you call your own ProxyNumber you will be prompted for your PIN number. Just enter your PIN and you will be able to make outgoing calls. Outgoing calls will have your ProxyNumber set as the caller ID.

What happens when my ProxyNumber expires?

Once your number expires, it will immediately go out of service. The call history and any messages will be securely deleted from our servers. If you need to keep your number active, you must recharge it before the expiration as once a number has expired it is gone forever.

Notable Alternative


There is another service that looks interesting called 'burner' its an app for iPhone or Android; i cannot comment on this service (as i have never used it) except that its functionality and UI look amazing; and i would imagine being a service on your phone that calls would be cheaper as the initial communication from your phone to burners servers would be conducted over VOIP as apposed to NumberProxy where you would pay standard call fees to reach your number proxy.
My main concern is given the level of data monitoring on these devices and In App purchases going via your mobile account that using an app such as 'burner' maybe less private than using a cloud based service that you can access via a VPN, pay with Bitcoin and only requires a username and password for sign up. This is just speculation, i decided not to go with that service for the reasons above but thought it was worth a mention as it may suit your needs perfectly; check it out at burnerapp.com

Conclusion

Given that NumberProxy's service accepts bitcoin as payment and you can be up and running with a privacy shielding number proxy in a matter of minutes i think it a great offering.
I have personally used this service for basic functionality including sending a receiving SMS messages and can confirm the service as working and very useful. For the price of $2 USD for 7 days and the ability to be activated in 10 minutes i think this tool is a great resource to have in your online arsenal!

Sort:  

I'm sure they re-use numbers. What happens when someone else gets your number and they get a random text message with an account you created? They could perhaps hack into your account right?

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