4 ms·

Handy tip: buy the cheapest pre-charged SIM and use it for this kind of verifications.

mirimir 8y ago
That still allows geolocation. But one can lease hosted SIMs. Actual SIMs in server farms. So they're "real" mobile numbers. Just not located where you are.
- xfitm3 8y ago
  I tried to find a hosted sim provider - zero results. Can you provide a link?
  - mirimir 8y ago
    https://speedyverify.com/ https://speedyverify.com/
- gruez 8y ago
  >That still allows geolocation. I doubt twitter is going to get your cell tower location just from your phone number. Sure, the cell provider has it and is probably keeping it around, but unless you attract significant attention to yourself (eg. bomb threat), it's not going to be disclosed. If you're really paranoid you can use it a few blocks away from your usual location.
  - inapis 8y ago
    Um wasn’t there a case where one of the big 3 providers in US was selling real time location data?
    - gruez 8y ago
      The ToS of those providers prohibit the use of that except with explicit consent. I'm aware that the providers do little verification that consent was given, but I'm doubt that established companies such as facebook or twitter are going to risk a PR fiasco to get better anti-fraud numbers.
      - propogandist 8y ago
        Yeah...in theory. They'll sell the data until it becomes a big news item https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/01/t-mobile-sprint-and-att-still-selling-your-location-data-report-says/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/01/t-mobile-sprint-...
tetromino_ 8y ago
Only if you don't mind that the next person who gets assigned your burner phone number might be able to take over your account.
- Sendotsh 8y ago
  You don't do it each time, you keep a single prepaid SIM as your "spam number", like people have spam gmail accounts for online competitions and random crap. I've been doing this for years. I have a $2 prepaid sim in an old phone sitting in my desk drawer. It's always off, and I only turn it on to approve a new signup or something. That way they can sell my number to marketers as much as they want, it doesn't bother my "real" number with robocalls and spam texts. What's mostly surprising is the insane increase in spam texts in the last year or so of using this method. I used to turn it on once a month or so to sign up to a new site, and have a few random texts... these days I get dozens a month, only proving more than ever that this method is worth doing.
blibble 8y ago
in the UK you can wander into any phone shop and get 5 SIMs for free also: the phone companies allow you to receive SMS without putting a penny on them
- Taniwha 8y ago
  Not much use if you need 200k numbers for your russian botnet
  - blibble 8y ago
    if you want to do that you can allocate yourself a block from ofcom costs nothing also

That still allows geolocation. But one can lease hosted SIMs. Actual SIMs in server farms. So they're "real" mobile numbers. Just not located where you are.

xfitm3 8y ago
I tried to find a hosted sim provider - zero results. Can you provide a link?
- mirimir 8y ago
  https://speedyverify.com/ https://speedyverify.com/
gruez 8y ago
>That still allows geolocation. I doubt twitter is going to get your cell tower location just from your phone number. Sure, the cell provider has it and is probably keeping it around, but unless you attract significant attention to yourself (eg. bomb threat), it's not going to be disclosed. If you're really paranoid you can use it a few blocks away from your usual location.
- inapis 8y ago
  Um wasn’t there a case where one of the big 3 providers in US was selling real time location data?
  - gruez 8y ago
    The ToS of those providers prohibit the use of that except with explicit consent. I'm aware that the providers do little verification that consent was given, but I'm doubt that established companies such as facebook or twitter are going to risk a PR fiasco to get better anti-fraud numbers.
    - propogandist 8y ago
      Yeah...in theory. They'll sell the data until it becomes a big news item https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/01/t-mobile-sprint-and-att-still-selling-your-location-data-report-says/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/01/t-mobile-sprint-...

tetromino_ 8y ago

Only if you don't mind that the next person who gets assigned your burner phone number might be able to take over your account.

Sendotsh 8y ago
You don't do it each time, you keep a single prepaid SIM as your "spam number", like people have spam gmail accounts for online competitions and random crap. I've been doing this for years. I have a $2 prepaid sim in an old phone sitting in my desk drawer. It's always off, and I only turn it on to approve a new signup or something. That way they can sell my number to marketers as much as they want, it doesn't bother my "real" number with robocalls and spam texts. What's mostly surprising is the insane increase in spam texts in the last year or so of using this method. I used to turn it on once a month or so to sign up to a new site, and have a few random texts... these days I get dozens a month, only proving more than ever that this method is worth doing.

blibble 8y ago

in the UK you can wander into any phone shop and get 5 SIMs for free also: the phone companies allow you to receive SMS without putting a penny on them

Taniwha 8y ago
Not much use if you need 200k numbers for your russian botnet
- blibble 8y ago
  if you want to do that you can allocate yourself a block from ofcom costs nothing also