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Cell phones are everywhere these days. In 2021, the total number of mobile devices around the world reached a new high of 14.91 billion. That’s just under two devices for every single living human on the planet. This number is expected to increase to 18.22 billion by the end of 2025.
The invention of cell phones has made it possible for people to connect in ways that were never even conceivable in the past. All you have to do is dial a ten-digit number, and you can instantly be in touch with somewhere thousands of miles away. You could make the argument that cell phones are one of the greatest achievements in human history.
(A note on landline area codes: Extra area and country codes had to be instated as the number of cell users boomed - the North American Numbering Plan.)
Unfortunately, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows with cell phones. Criminals are also only a few numbers away from making contact too. In 2021, roughly 59.4 million Americans lost money to scammers for a total of more than $29.8 billion. That averages out to more than $500 per person lost via phone scam.
There are several options that scammers use to con people out of their money. One of the most popular is to “spoof” the call.
By doing so, they’ll be able to disguise their identity by falsifying the information appearing on your caller ID. In other words, a phone call that’s coming from “Mom” might actually be a scam in disguise. The only way to know that your caller ID is accurate is if the number has been verified.
What Is a Verified Number?
A verified number is exactly what it sounds like: a phone number that’s been reviewed and determined to be authentic. The option to verify a number started appearing in the fall of 2020 and has been slowly gaining favor with the public.
It’s especially becoming common for a business to use the feature as it will display its name, logo, and verification symbol. Using a business or medical practice has long been a favorite tactic for phone scams. Important voice calls to customers or patients are unlikely to go ignored when the recipient knows 100% that the call is real and they are safe to share pertinent account information.
What Is the STIR/SHAKEN Standard?
Verifying a phone number is a bit of a process. One popular method is to call the number to employ a type of Turing Test. The idea is to see if a human answers or if it’s a modem, voice mail, or fax machine. The former suggests it’s a real number, while the latter would indicate that it could be part of a scam.
The framework for these tests and verification of phone numbers is referred to as the STIR/SHAKEN Standard. STIR is a perfect anagram for Secure Telephone Identity Revisited, while SHAKEN is a little looser and stands for Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information using toKENs. The incoming calls traveling through the interconnect phone networks will have their caller ID authenticated via these standards and validated by phone service carriers.
If the number is verified, then the phone company of the call recipient will indicate that the number is real. If the number isn’t approved by a verification service, it will likely signal their user in the form of “Scam Likely” or another notification that appears on their caller ID.
The network is still growing, as the system was only implemented a few years ago. However, there have been some promising results in a short amount of time with phone validation.
How Do You Get a Verified Number?
Getting a verified number isn’t a hard thing to do. After all, you’re not a robocaller or a spammer, are you? All that you have to do is follow a few steps via a government website to verify your name, address, and phone number.
Chances are that the government already has this information on file. But verifying everything online, by text message, or via email will speed up the process of authenticating your identity and phone number.
Phone Number Verification With Burner
On the other hand, you could just create a Burner account instead. The Burner app can help you to generate a second phone number that you can use in lieu of your personal number. There won’t be any of your personal details associated with your Burner number, but it will be verified as an authentic number anyway.
The new regulations involving call verification are very strict. Services like Burner have to perform a lot of verifying tests for their numbers. You’ll have the ability to use a verified number that can’t be traced back to your personal data.
What Are the Benefits of Having a Verified Number?
Getting a verified phone number from Burner can come with a variety of benefits. These benefits are available for you whether you’re a business owner or a regular everyday citizen.
Here are a few of the potential benefits that can come with having a verified Burner number:
- Benefits Sales and Customer Service
- Cuts Down Costs
- Easy to Use
- Helps Prevent Fraud and Scams
- Keeps Personal Life and Work Apart
- Saves You Time
Benefits Sales and Customer Service
Public trust is extremely important for any business to succeed. If customers don’t trust your business, then they’re not going to buy anything from you.
Verifying your phone number will ensure that you care about providing them with the best possible customer service. Showing this attention to detail will surely help to retain loyal customers and garnish the attention of new ones.
Cuts Down Costs
Marketing is expensive, and every dollar needs to be spent wisely. You’ll be wasting a ton of money by sending marketing attempts to bots and invalid contacts.
Verifying the phone numbers of your clients can clean up your database and ensure the recipients are actual humans. You’ll be able to generate stronger leads and spend marketing money more wisely.
Easy To Use
Using a second number like Burner is about as easy as it gets. That’s why you can use it for almost everything online.
Any calls or texts sent to your second number will be rerouted through Burner and transferred to your cell phone. It works the same way as your normal number. The only difference is there isn’t any personal contact information or personal data tied to your Burner number. You can drop it and get a new one at any time.
Helps Prevent Fraud and Scams
The most obvious benefit is that you’ll be able to do your part in eliminating fraud. The more numbers involved with the STIR/SHAKEN Standard, the more efficient it will become at weeding out scammers. Verifying your phone number will eliminate one of the possible options for a scam. If everyone does their part, scammers won’t have anyone to con except for themselves.
Keeps Personal Life and Work Apart
It can be hard to balance your work life and your personal life. There is only so much time in the day, and assigning a certain amount of hours for each can be tricky. Using a verified second phone number like Burner can help you. The features provided by Burner can help subscribers to regain control over how they spend their time.
Saves You Time
Time is money in the world of business. So anything that wastes your time is also wasting your money.
For example, having to spend time tracking down scammers and fake accounts will waste resources. That time could be so much better served focusing on your real customers instead. If you and your customer both use verified numbers, then you two could focus on business instead of avoiding scams.
The Verification Process Improved
Getting a verified number is one of the best ways to fight against the rising threat of spam calls. One day, these cyber criminals will be unable to perform their scams. But until that day comes, it’s best that you do everything you can to protect yourself. Verifying your number is one option. Another one would be to get a Burner number too.
You can check out Burner now to learn a little more about how it all works. The free seven-day trial will give you enough time to see what it’s like to use a verified number that isn’t attached to you personally. Online scams are as common as rainstorms. Burner can provide you with an umbrella to make sure you don’t get wet.
