How do I call people anonymously?
Calling people or businesses anonymously is vital to your privacy. Once your real phone number is leaked out, any other data on you can be found. This includes but is not limited to: Your real full name, address, social security number, and other information. In-fact, technology these days can pin point people down within feet to where they called from by triangulating cell phone signals! In this article, we will talk about several anonymous calling methods from Caller ID Spoofing to prepaid cell phones.
To start, we want to let you know that *67 is not anonymous. Although it can protect your phone number to an extent, phone records held with the telephone company can disclose your phone number within minutes if subpoenaed. If you call a toll free phone number, *67 will not protect your number as it relies on ANI (Actual Number Identification)
To see your Actual Number Identification, just dial this number for free which is MCI Residential, 1-800-444-4444 and the prompt will automatically tell you what number you are calling from. Now try *67 before that, and you will see that *67 did not do you any good!
Fortunately, we have some methods that are anonymous and can protect you.
Caller ID Spoofing
Faking the Caller ID or better known as Caller ID Spoofing has been around for years and is a great way to get an anonymous phone number. Although recently talked about more because of pending laws such as The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007, it actually goes back to businesses and even PIs (Private Investigators) using expensive PRI Lines (Primary Rate Interface.) There is also an underground community similar to hacking, but called phone phreaking. Phreakers typically experiment with public and private telephone lines and services. Some used technology like orange boxes to spoof their caller id. Recently in 2001-2008, voice over IP makes it possible for affordable caller id spoofing.
There are a few services that offer caller ID spoofing, although we are going to recommend one called Phone Gangster. Not only does it have a catchy name, but it has features and anonymous protection that we all like and love. First you purchase some prepaid spoof minutes and you will receive a PIN number and instructions within 15 to 20 minutes to your E-mail address. Then it works just like a calling card would. You call their 1-800 toll free phone number, enter your PIN, then enter the phone number you want to display on the Caller ID, and then finally you enter the phone number you want to call anonymously. It is virtually untraceable and there is no way the person you are calling can see your real number. PhoneGangster also offers online web calling. By logging in at their online web control panel, you can place calls online instantly and it is very convenient. There is another caller id spoofing company called SpoofCard, however, we recommend you stay clear of them as they are not anonymous. On August 22, 2006, they released this information about a customer you may know as “Paris Hilton.” They claim she used the service to hack into Lindsay Lohan’s voice mail which obviously violated Paris Hilton’s privacy. They then terminated Hilton’s spoof card account. By far caller id spoofing is the easiest and quickest way to call people with your privacy in mind.
Using services for the deaf to call anonymously
Although this might seem a little unmoral, services for the deaf are popular and work great for being anonymous. The way it works is you use a site such as IP-Relay or Sprint IP Relay. Both of these services are free. Once you visit one of the sites, you connect to a live operator in a chat window, enter the number you want to dial, and any instructions. You will then type in the chat window what you want to say to the person you are calling. All conversations you type are usually followed by /ga - which means “Go Ahead” and tells the operator you are done typing and to say the line. These services are often abused by pranksters but do work well with our experience.
Note: Your IP (Internet Protocol) address is shown to the operators and obviously do not do anything illegal such as make bomb threats or any other shady business. You can also read our IP Address article to wipe all trails of your identity when using a service like this.
Prepaid Phone
A prepaid cell phone that is not attached with your name is great for privacy. You can buy prepaid cell phones at gas stations, Walmart, Walgreens, K-mart, or any other store. The way it works is you usually purchase a phone for as cheap as $15 and then you buy a minute card. As always, we recommend paying cash for the phone. You can usually by minutes for the prepaid phone service at the store as well. In addition, you can use a prepaid credit card and use it to buy minutes online for the phone. With our experience, we recommend using Tracfone for your prepaid needs. To activate your phone just takes minutes and you can call their customer service phone number or activate online at their website. For superior protection, you could even pick an area code in a different state!
Pay Phone / Public Phone
By using a pay phone or another public phone, you will leave no trace that you are the one who called the person or business. Pay phones are found everywhere including gas stations, local grocery stores, and even in parking lots. A lot of times there are no cameras watching the phone so you will leave no trace behind. Rates typically just start at $.25 cents but can go high as a few dollars for long distance calls.
Op Diverting
One of the oldest tricks in the book, is op-diverting. This involves calling an operator by dialing 0, explaining that you are having difficulty dialing a number or that you are blind, and then having them call the number for you. You can try using an automatic operator by dialing 10-10-288-0 (or just enter 00 if AT&T or Cingular is your phone carrier)