All terms

Temporary number

A temporary number is one you hold only long enough to finish a single task, after which it returns to the pool for someone else.

In detail

The appeal is that it keeps a personal number out of a service's database, and out of the next breach of that database. The cost is that nothing about the account stays anchored: password resets, device changes and payout checks all go to a number that is no longer yours. Treat the account as disposable too, or rent the number instead.

Also known as

  • disposable number
  • burner number
  • throwaway number

Related terms