Recently one of our developers came across this article on Vice: “A Hacker Got All My Texts for $16”. In this piece, a journalist hires a hacker to show him just how easy it is to manipulate and re-route someone’s personal phone number using SMS authentication and phony user authorizations.
If this ever happens to you, your phone will seem completely normal – at least until your apps stop working. Or even worse, you’ll stop receiving text messages from friends and family because a hacker is having all your messages redirected!
Can you avoid having this happen to you? Of course you can! The only way a hacker can initiate this re-routing process is if he or she knows your personal phone number to begin with. It’s an easy fix to make sure you NEVER give out your cell phone number to any person or company you don’t trust.
But what if you want to keep using all your apps? We use apps for so much of our daily lives now: from ride-sharing and grocery delivery to banking and online-dating, apps are a critical part of today’s world.
Luckily you have us: at Textverified and Phoneblur, you’ve got two simple ways to protect your private phone number. You can rent one of our US-based cell phone numbers on a short-term or a long-term rental plan and avoid giving out your personal number altogether.
Instead, use one of our numbers any time you need to register for an app or authenticate an account. And if that number gets hacked, all you have to do is switch to a new number.* Stay safe and happy verifying!
*But we’d love it if you drop us a line and let us know one of our numbers has been compromised! :)