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Recently tried to use Twilio as a burner for registrations (project to set up unique personas online). All modern websites that require a phone number are also

Recently tried to use Twilio as a burner for registrations (project to set up unique personas online). All modern websites that require a phone number are also using a CNAM lookup and discriminate against VOIP numbers. I won't be ditching my prepaid phone any time soon in exchange VOIP services.

bdcravens 9y ago
Twilio even has a web UI for this lookup: https://www.twilio.com/lookup https://www.twilio.com/lookup
- exhilaration 9y ago
  That's really cool, I'm plugging in my cell phone number and it's returning my name and carrier. I didn't know services like these were available.
  - Sleeep 9y ago
    A lot of cellphone companies have this information displayed as an option for numbers not saved in your contacts. My provider (Verizon) gave me this option for a month for free when I first signed up then sent me a text that it was additional cost if I wanted to keep it. Then they started displaying that information for business lines for free. Later when I got my new phone it stopped for some reason.
- rsync 9y ago
  "Twilio even has a web UI for this lookup: https://www.twilio.com/lookup" https://www.twilio.com/lookup" Strange - almost every number I put into this UI (friends, family, etc.) comes up with: "caller_name": { "caller_name": null, "caller_type": null, "error_code": null, }, I wonder why that is ?
  - callalex 9y ago
    Are you using a paid or a free trial account? A lot of number lookup services start returning garbage data if they suspect fraud/abuse from free users.
dboreham 9y ago
You can get CNAM enabled numbers from Vitelity. At least you could back when we set up our VoIP. They also support inbound SMS fwiw.
rsync 9y ago
"Recently tried to use Twilio as a burner for registrations (project to set up unique personas online)." Another problem with twilio numbers is that they are not mobile numbers. The reason that is a problem is that two factor authentication and other security measures are very often sent from mobile short codes and not from another actual phone number. And no twilio number can receive any SMS from a short code. It's not possible, since they are not mobile numbers. This means that you cannot use a twilio number for google products like gmail or google play store - you can never receive the challenge/auth numbers.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

bdcravens 9y ago

Twilio even has a web UI for this lookup: https://www.twilio.com/lookup https://www.twilio.com/lookup

exhilaration 9y ago
That's really cool, I'm plugging in my cell phone number and it's returning my name and carrier. I didn't know services like these were available.
- Sleeep 9y ago
  A lot of cellphone companies have this information displayed as an option for numbers not saved in your contacts. My provider (Verizon) gave me this option for a month for free when I first signed up then sent me a text that it was additional cost if I wanted to keep it. Then they started displaying that information for business lines for free. Later when I got my new phone it stopped for some reason.
rsync 9y ago
"Twilio even has a web UI for this lookup: https://www.twilio.com/lookup" https://www.twilio.com/lookup" Strange - almost every number I put into this UI (friends, family, etc.) comes up with: "caller_name": { "caller_name": null, "caller_type": null, "error_code": null, }, I wonder why that is ?
- callalex 9y ago
  Are you using a paid or a free trial account? A lot of number lookup services start returning garbage data if they suspect fraud/abuse from free users.

dboreham 9y ago

You can get CNAM enabled numbers from Vitelity. At least you could back when we set up our VoIP. They also support inbound SMS fwiw.

rsync 9y ago

"Recently tried to use Twilio as a burner for registrations (project to set up unique personas online)." Another problem with twilio numbers is that they are not mobile numbers. The reason that is a problem is that two factor authentication and other security measures are very often sent from mobile short codes and not from another actual phone number. And no twilio number can receive any SMS from a short code. It's not possible, since they are not mobile numbers. This means that you cannot use a twilio number for google products like gmail or google play store - you can never receive the challenge/auth numbers.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]