What Is A Burner Phone? When And How To Use A Burner Phone Number?

Phones are the easiest and the best way to communicate with others. Perhaps you seek a number that vanishes, leaving no trace of the call you had made. Burner phone numbers can provide you with such solutions. They allow you to make emergency calls, undercover chats, or avoid spam calls. However, they offer only temporary anonymity. Criminals in movies can be seen to be using such phones. In truth, it can benefit you immensely.

‘Burner Sim’

It’s a prepaid SIM card available for a small amount. You can buy it from the nearest store and insert it into your other phone. You can use the card to phone people without revealing your real identity. However, the card is usable only for a limited time period after which it expires.

About ‘Burner’

You may want to know “what is a burner phone”. It is a prepaid mobile phone that is offered at local stores or online stores at affordable rates. They are meant for those who don’t plan to use such numbers for the long term and want to make anonymous calls. They are purchased with cash, thus leaving behind no paper trail or documents that tie the buyer to the phone number.

Popularity

Burner phones became popular after it was shown in the HBO hit series ‘The Wire’ released in 2002. in this movie, the authorities used ‘burners’ to avoid detection by wanted suspects. The device is ‘burned’ or ‘discarded’ if the number is suspected, thus leaving the trail cold and undetectable. With the growing popularity of Android devices and iPhones, burners are called ‘dumb phones’ or ‘feature phones’. During the early 2000s, smartphones didn’t exist. Although burner phone is a common term used, you may use SIM cards in a similar manner.

With a burner SIM, you don’t have to purchase an expensive device. Rather, you may use this SIM card in your smartphone and switch between numbers to make anonymous calls for diverse reasons. Few smartphones are designed to accommodate multiple SIM cards simultaneously and can serve this purpose. Few burner phone applications rely primarily on the second device you plan to use.

Why Use A Burner?

There could be several reasons to use a burner SIM card or burner phone. It might be to safeguard your identity. You can procure a SIM card or a handset without linking your real identity with it. Rather, you may use the number to make calls to anyone and everyone without worrying about getting identified.

Reasons To Stay Anonymous

Various reasons can be cited for people to stay anonymous when making phone calls. Perhaps your phone to provide an anonymous tip or reveal some secret that can help others. It enables you to achieve this task without putting your safety or that of your family members in danger. Maybe you prefer to use a secure and reliable messaging service such as Telegram or Signal to convey crucial messages and secrets. It allows you to do so without disclosing or revealing your primary contact number.

It could be you don’t want to share your primary phone numbers with companies and marketers. Doing so will mean getting disturbed with follow-up messages and ads. Burner phones are useful when searching for insurance quotes, real estate listings, or shopping for items.

Limited Features

Being feature devices, burner phones have limited abilities. They may not support modern browsers or lack cameras. However, you can text messages and make phone calls. They are lightweight and have excellent battery life. Most devices can function effectively for days with a single charge. Spare battery use might mean you can use the phone for months in a single charge. Thus, they are ideal for emergency uses. You may include them in your emergency survival kit. They can be charged 100% and then turned off until their use is desired.

The burner phone is rather a spare phone with a long battery life. It even doesn’t require highly expensive phone plans. Thus, it is affordable and can be purchased by everyone without bothering about the budget.

Doesn’t Guarantee Anonymity

You may be investing in such phones to protect your privacy when making anonymous calls. However, those with criminal intentions should understand that no cell phones are created in this world that send spam or anonymous signal messages. They should understand that it is not possible to derive true anonymity. The legal authorities will have easy access to all messages and calls and trace the sender or caller effortlessly.

Where To Get Burner SIM or Phone?

Offline and online electronic retailers or convenience stores sell burner phones and prepaid SIM cards. They offer an excellent collection of affordable SIM-only plans or devices to make texts and calls only. The price of burner phones depends on the features you seek from them. There are affordable plans offered. However, your intended usage determines the price and plans to choose. Most burners are meant for calling and texting purposes. Additional features desired, like cameras, touchscreens, etc. could incur extra charges. It will also mean wasting battery life quickly.

You need to go far to seek anonymity. You may ask your friend or someone you know to purchase a burner phone or burner SIM card. They can even provide you with a gift card that you may utilize to shop for such devices. You may even use cash for your shopping session. For anonymity’s sake, you may avoid using a debit card, credit card, or bank transfer.

If you plan to enhance your survival kit, a burner phone will be an excellent welcome addition. They are best suited for emergencies and hence, you can even keep one in your car.

Burn After Reading

You may perhaps plan to use a burner phone to enhance your privacy. Take appropriate steps to ensure you don’t reveal your identity to those you don’t trust. Your interest in such devices might purely be for backup or emergency use. In such cases, charge the phone and store it in a place where you can retrieve the same quickly during emergencies. Use an AA battery charger to charge the device and check its battery status frequently. Ensure it is fully charged so that you may use it during emergency situations.