A Craigslist phone number you can throw away

Why a burner number here

A listing is public, and anyone who sees it can copy the number into a contact list, a spam list or a lookup. A number made for the listing keeps that exposure away from your real phone.

• Keep your real number private. Buyers, and anyone else reading the listing, see the NumberBurn number and never yours.
• Stop calls and texts after you are done. Switch the number to texts only so calls stop, or burn it. Either way you keep control of who can still reach your real phone.
• See who sold your number. Each number carries a label, and the dashboard shows how many calls it took in the last 30 days. If a number you gave one place starts ringing from strangers, you can tell where it leaked.

How to set it up

1. 1

   Pick an area code

   Choose one of the supported US area codes and NumberBurn finds a number in it. A number in your own area code can look familiar to local buyers.

2. 2

   Verify your mobile

   From your real mobile, text START and the 4-digit code shown on screen to the new number. The code works for 30 minutes. Calls to your NumberBurn numbers ring this one confirmed mobile.

3. 3

   Label the number

   Name the number after the item, for example the thing you are selling. Labels are only visible to you.

4. 4

   Hand it out

   Put the number in the listing, or give it to a buyer who asks for a way to reach you. Use a separate number for a separate listing when you want to tell them apart.

5. 5

   Watch the inbox

   Texts appear in the web inbox, tagged with the number that received them. There is no app. Calls ring your mobile while the number is on Forward. You read texts from buyers in the inbox. To answer, use your own phone or the site's own messaging.

6. 6

   Burn it when done

   One tap. Forwarding stops at once, the message history stays visible to you, and the number is held out of circulation for 30 days before it goes back to the carrier pool. Burning is permanent. Switching to texts only is the gentler option if you might still want the messages to keep arriving.

What to know first

• Receive-only. You cannot call or text from a NumberBurn number. It only receives.
• No 911. A NumberBurn number cannot place any call, emergency calls included. Use your own phone.
• US numbers only.
• When a buyer calls the NumberBurn number, the call rings your mobile. If you call a buyer back from your own phone, they see your own number, not the NumberBurn number.
• Some sites and apps refuse virtual numbers. Check the rules of the site you plan to use before you rely on a NumberBurn number there.