Use cases
A recovery number that is not your main one
Who this is for
Anyone with accounts worth protecting
Quick answer
The problem
Using your primary number for account recovery makes SIM-swap attacks catastrophic: one social-engineering call to a carrier support desk and every account falls at once.
What to buy
No carrier support desk exists to socially engineer on a dedicated recovery line. There is no account to compromise, and no link to your public identity.
Recommended
Recommended configuration
Term
12 months
Save 32% — best value
Countries that work best
Use cases
Other reasons people buy a line
Keeping your number out of every signup form
Retailers, delivery apps, loyalty schemes and marketplaces all demand a phone number to function, then leak it in the breach they have three…
Selling on marketplaces without publishing your number
A listing with a phone number attached is a permanent, searchable link between an item, a location and a person. Buyers keep the number.
A local number where you are travelling
Local services increasingly reject foreign numbers — bank OTPs, delivery apps, ride-hailing, restaurant bookings.
Separating a side business from your personal life
Handing clients your personal mobile means they have it forever, including at 11pm on a Sunday and long after the engagement ends.
Dating without handing over your primary number
A name, social profiles and often an address are all reachable from a phone number.
Source contact for journalists and researchers
A contact number that resolves to your identity puts sources at risk, not just you.
Testing SMS flows across countries
You cannot test international SMS delivery without international numbers, and buying SIMs in nine countries is not a realistic engineering…