A phone number to share before you share yours

Why a burner number here

Sharing a phone number early is a step many people want to take slowly. A number made for the purpose lets you decide when someone gets the real one.

• Keep your real number private. A match who gets the NumberBurn number does not get the one your family, work and accounts use.
• 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. Pick whichever area code you like.

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 person or the conversation, so you can tell later where a call came from. Labels are only visible to you.

4. 4

   Hand it out

   Share the number only when you choose to. Everyone you hand it to reaches the same number, so use a fresh number per person if you want them separate.

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 their texts in the inbox. To answer in writing you need your own channel, such as the app's chat or your own number, when you decide to share it.

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.
• You cannot call or text out from the number. A conversation here is one-directional until you move to your own channels, at a moment you choose.
• A call to the number rings your mobile. If you call back from your own phone, they see your own 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.