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Safety & privacy

How to protect your phone number from spam, brokers and SIM swaps

Your number is the key to many of your accounts. A few habits keep it out of the wrong hands.

5 min read

Why your number is valuable

Your number links your accounts together and often resets your passwords. That makes it worth money to marketers, data brokers and attackers.

Habits that help

  • Give your real number only to services you’d trust with your bank
  • Use a temporary number for one-off sign-ups and giveaways
  • Ask your carrier for a port-out PIN to block SIM swaps
  • Move 2FA to an authenticator app or passkey where you can

If you’re already getting spam

Report spam texts to your carrier (in the US and UK, forward them to 7726), and opt out of data-broker listings. It takes time, but it adds up.