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The security of your phone number is more important than you can imagine. Those 10 digits act as a gateway into the rest of your personal information. If a hacker gets your number, they can use it to find out much more.
Because phone number security is so important, it’s a good idea to learn a few helpful tips and tricks that will minimize the chances of it falling into the wrong hands. Read on to discover how you can secure your phone number.
What Can Hackers Do With Your Phone Number?
Before we begin, it’s important to learn what hackers can do with your phone number so you know what warning signs to look out for. After this, you’ll know why securing your phone number matters; the best strategy is to prevent the hack before it begins.
Send Malicious Software
If hackers know your phone number, they can send malware to you via text in the hopes you’ll click on an embedded link or download a file. The link may redirect you to a website that seems normal, but malware and spyware will install itself and operate in the background, working to collect as much personal data and information about you as possible.
From there, hackers can either use that information to blackmail you, impersonate you, or sell it to other criminals on the internet.
Smishing Scams
Smishing is when hackers send you a text while pretending to be a legitimate company or person and ask you to send back personal information. They may claim you have a rerouted package and need to provide your address and credit card number to pay a small fee to make sure the package gets delivered. They may pretend to be a job recruiter and offer you an amazing job if only you pay for a training session up front.
These scams can seem legit because hackers will impersonate real companies, so keeping your phone number safe from prying eyes will help minimize who can text you and try to scam you out of money or information.
Identity Theft and Impersonation
As mentioned above, once hackers get your number, they can use it to either search up more information about you on a people search engine, or try to trick you into clicking on something that installs malware. Once they have enough data or manage to hack important accounts, they can steal your identity, spend your money, commit fraud, and more under your name.
They can also spoof your number and reroute it to their own phone so that all your messages and calls go to them instead. They can also send outgoing messages or make calls, pretending to be you.
Other Account Hacking
Your phone number is extremely valuable, but your email is typically linked to even more accounts. If hackers get your number and know your email address, they can use your number to receive a password reset notification and lock you out of your email. From there, they can more easily access any account linked to your email by requesting a password reset.
How To Keep Your Phone Number Safe From Hackers
The digital world is like a wild, unpredictable jungle. Even if you bring bug spray, there’s no guarantee all the bugs will stay away. While these suggestions of how to secure your phone number are an important place to start, there’s no way to 100% guarantee that your phone number is untouchable. But every reinforcement helps.
If you follow these tips, the chances of your phone number getting hacked or leaked will greatly decrease.
Use Strong Passwords
You should use strong, unique passwords for every account you create, especially important ones. And if it’s too much to keep track of, consider using a password manager to help out.
When you sign up for an account, you almost always have to add a phone number. So, if your account gets hacked, the hacker will be able to easily see your number. That’s why it’s so important to use strong passwords when setting up even the most trivial of accounts.
Make sure your passwords aren’t easy to guess. That’s right, no 1234s. Strong phone passwords will be a series of unrelated letters, numbers, and special characters.
A good length is at least 16 characters. Don’t use numbers that have significant meaning to you, like the year you were born. Don’t use real words, especially not ones with personal meaning. The harder to guess, the better.
Keep Your Phone Updated
Updates to Apple devices and Androids can be annoying because they will likely change some aesthetic or operational part of your phone, which forces you to adjust to a new look or routine. But despite these visual differences, the real strength in updating lies in the bug protection and defense against security threats.
Phone updates are intended to identify issues with the old system, including security vulnerabilities, and offer solutions or improvements to them. These systems operate in the background, so while the new icon for the maps app will be noticeable, strengthened security defenses won’t be.
But if you don’t update, you leave your phone in a more vulnerable state, as the security issues from the last version will continue to exist. It’s a good idea to turn on automatic updates so you never miss the latest version. This includes updating your apps since they have the same intention of improving security and performance issues.
This strategy is mostly intended to prevent general phone hacks, not phone number issues, but it’s still important. If you fall for a smishing scam, accidentally click on malware, or get your identity stolen, you want your phone to be as equipped as possible to deal with these issues so the damage is minimized.
Use a Second Phone Number
Using a second phone number app like Burner phone is one of the best ways to protect your main phone number. Phone numbers typically get leaked online, and due to the variety of places your phone number shows up (accounts, subscriptions, profiles, etc), it can be easier to find than you think.
Every time you give out your real number online, even when signing up for a simple subscription, you increase the risk of a hack. Using a second phone number in place of your first is a great strategy. This way, if your number is hacked, it’s only your second one, which is contained in the Burner app.
You can easily get rid of your second number and create a new custom phone number all within the same day. You won’t have to go to the phone store, worry about updating contacts with your new number, or any of the other major inconveniences that come with changing your number.
So, if you’re chatting with someone unknown online and it gets serious, give them your second number. If you’re signing up for an Instagram account, give Instagram that second number. The fewer places your main number appears online, the less likely it is to get hacked or leaked.
Be Selective About Who You Give Your Number To
Second numbers are a great option, but even still, it’s important to be selective about who you give your number to. All it takes to be hacked is voluntarily giving the wrong person or company your number.
As a general rule, never give your real phone number to someone you don’t know. If you want a stranger or someone you just met to have a way to contact you, always give them your second number. And the great thing is, it’ll look just like a regular number. They have no way of knowing it’s your second number.
The same goes for signing up for things online. Always use your second number when you can, and only ever enter a number if it’s absolutely mandatory or if you want to receive notifications or be put on a mailing list of some kind.
If possible, sign up without giving a number. And if you really want to use your main number, only do so on reputable, well-known sites. It’s also wise to look up the company's data sharing policy online because even highly known companies sell your data online.
Set Up a Second Passcode With Your Phone Carrier
Major carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have options to set up a second passcode or account pin number. While it requires an extra step, these passcodes help protect you from identity thieves and phone hackers looking to get your phone number. You will need this second passcode when signing into your account, going into your account at some retail stores, and calling customer service.
Keeping your Digits Secure
The best way to keep your phone number secure is to give it out to as few people and companies as possible. The less places it appears online, the less likely it is to be hacked. Using a second number whenever possible is a great strategy.
If your second number gets hacked, it’s much more easily replaced. Trust your gut if something seems suspicious, be selective with your precious digits, and you’ll be just fine.
Sources:
How To Protect Your Phone From Hackers | Consumer Advice
Phone Number Hacks: 5 Ways to Protect Yourself | Adelia Risk
