If you want to learn how to make a phone call or send a text without revealing your phone number, you’re in the right place! Let’s explore how to hide your number.
In the past, options for number masking were limited. The only real way to hide your phone number was to get an actual second phone. These are known as “burner phones” because you could “burn” them (ditch them entirely) after making your call.
The problem with physical burner phones is inconvenience and expense. But nobody wants to have to carry around two phones. And we don’t know anybody who wants to buy and then throw out a smartphone every few days. Imagine the cost!
Now you can also get “Dual SIM” phones in some areas, but those can be prohibitively expensive. Even then, you have two numbers, but both are connected to you and are not disposable numbers. So they’re neither hiding your real number nor protecting you.
And let’s not forget payphones! Payphones were the original way of hiding your number and making anonymous calls. They could still be useful if you can find a payphone still around today. But only for calling, of course, since you can’t text with a payphone… Maybe payphones aren’t such a good option after all.
There’s a better way to disguise your phone number these days, thankfully.
Read on to learn why you may want to hide your number, and how you can do so simply and effectively!
Why should I hide my phone number?
Number masking isn’t a new idea. We’ve talked about it previously, and we’ll talk about it again here on the blog because it’s our area of expertise: helping you keep your personal information secure.
You may not even think of your phone number as personal information. After all, you’re asked to give it out all the time, right?
Every website you visit, social media you sign up with, brick-and-mortar store you walk into–they all desperately want a way to contact you, and they’re not satisfied with just email. Nobody checks their email. Everybody has a “junk mail” email address they use for precisely these situations.
Legitimate marketers and scammers alike have gotten wise, and they want your phone number.
Even if you’re in the habit of handing out your number easily, here are some reasons you may want to start hiding your number:
- Online dating: Even if you feel you know a person from online communications, moving the conversation to real life can be terrifying.
- Online shopping: There are some retailers you may be comfortable giving your personal details, but if it’s just a one-off purchase, consider hiding your number and preventing future follow-up.
- Work, or a side-hustle: whether your job requires you to make cold-calls, or you’re trying to sell or buy an item on Facebook Marketplace, you may not want to disclose your actual phone number.
Privacy is also a concern when dealing with volunteer associations, parents’ groups, commercial websites, neighbors, and work associates. Any time your phone number is shared publically, you’re putting your privacy in danger. You’re risking spam at best, and identity theft at worst.
But don’t worry, because when you want to mask your number, whatever the reason, you have options.
Hiding your number with a block code
You can use a blocking code to prevent access to your number. This will cause calls made from your number to come up as “Blocked Caller” or “Unknown number” or some variation thereof.
The most well-known vertical service code in North America is *67. If you want to hide your number and make a private call, just dial *67 before entering the destination number you want to contact.
In the United Kingdom, the most common blocking code is 141. It’s #31# throughout much of Europe and South America.
Any number you call while using *67 or the local version will not be able to redial your number. But keep in mind that this only works for phone calls, not text messages.
Another important thing to note is that these blocking codes do not prevent your number’s information from being transmitted to the destination number. Instead, they cause your number’s information to be masked; if the person you are calling has unmasking technology installed on their smartphone, then *67 or the local equivalent may not work as intended.
Hide your number by changing the “Caller ID” setting in your smartphone
If you want to set your caller ID to appear as “Private Number,” you can actually accomplish this directly from your device.
Hide your number on an iPhone
- Go to the phone’s settings menu
- Select “Phone”
- Choose “Show My Caller ID”
- Toggle between the options to either to show/hide your number
Hide your number on an Android phone
- Open up the phone’s settings menu
- Select “Call settings”
- Choose “Additional settings”
- Select “Caller ID”
- Choose “Hide number” to hide your number, or “Show number” to go back to showing your number when you call
Not all carriers allow these features, so they’re not guaranteed, and we wouldn’t rely on them if it’s a serious matter.
Hide your number by getting a temporary number instead
There’s a reason why burner numbers are timeless. If you really need to hide your number, don’t play games; keep your real number completely private and get a disposable number.
We’ve made no secret that we think ConXhub is the best secondary number app on the market. But in case you’re new here (maybe you arrived from a Google search asking “how can I hide my phone number”) please allow us to explain.
Own a permenent Virtual Number
ConXhub is a secondary phone number app with a focus on privacy and security. With ConXhub, you can get a second telephone number from as little as £1.99, and use it for as long as you like. This makes it a great choice for long-term numbers, in case you need a second number but don’t want to lug around a second phone.
It also makes ConXhub (available for iOS and Android) a fantastic option for cases like we’ve been discussing in this article. When you need to make a quick call or send a text and keep your number private, you can’t go wrong with a disposable phone number. A temporary number ensures that incoming calls won’t go to your real number. Instead, they’ll ring on your temporary number instead, which allows you to have anonymous two-way communication.
There are other apps for this purpose as well. We would encourage you to check out all the options available and decide which one is most dedicated to ensuring your privacy.
ConXhub doesn’t mess around with your security, because it’s our bread and butter! Whichever option you ultimately choose, don’t mess around when it comes to your personal privacy.
