Hobby Phone

How does one go about getting a hobby phone? How exactly do they work? Should I get a separate prepaid phone or is the some way to use a separate number on my current phone?

Thanks in advance.

This is coming up a lot lately. But it always has.

Two ways to get a hobby number: on your old phone via an app; or,

A burner phone obtainable at WalMart, etc. They are inexpensive. You only need talk and text capability. You can buy them with cash to prevent them from being attached to you in any way. Load them with cards paid with cash. Keep in mind they can easily be discovered by a SO so you'll want to keep them locked with a password and turned off when you're not using them. If discovered, just claim you found it. Since it can't be turned on, no harm done.

Trust me, best way to figure it all out and is to go buy one and start using it.

very good advice

This is coming up a lot lately. But it always has.

Two ways to get a hobby number: on your old phone via an app; or,

A burner phone obtainable at WalMart, etc. They are inexpensive. You only need talk and text capability. You can buy them with cash to prevent them from being attached to you in any way. Load them with cards paid with cash. Keep in mind they can easily be discovered by a SO so you'll want to keep them locked with a password and turned off when you're not using them. If discovered, just claim you found it. Since it can't be turned on, no harm done.

Trust me, best way to figure it all out and is to go buy one and start using it. Originally Posted by Contralto

Burner phone paid in cash and make it a dumb phone, not a smart one because the old dumb ones do not have embedded GPS or ways for someone to track you. Plus, its cheaper and easier to just toss the dumb phone. Do not use an app on your personal phone - you want to keep as much separation from your real world and hobby life. Apps like Google voice can sometimes reveal your real phone number.

Burner phone paid in cash and make it a dumb phone, not a smart one because the old dumb ones do not have embedded GPS or ways for someone to track you. Plus, its cheaper and easier to just toss the dumb phone. Do not use an app on your personal phone - you want to keep as much separation from your real world and hobby life. Apps like Google voice can sometimes reveal your real phone number. Originally Posted by plainjoe

All very, very correct.

Good post.

Burner phone paid in cash and make it a dumb phone, not a smart one because the old dumb ones do not have embedded GPS or ways for someone to track you. Plus, its cheaper and easier to just toss the dumb phone. Do not use an app on your personal phone - you want to keep as much separation from your real world and hobby life. Apps like Google voice can sometimes reveal your real phone number. Originally Posted by plainjoe

Any phone you can purchase now can be tracked via GPS. Keep it turned off. Sgt. Pigg can still activate it and track you even if it is turned off, but this requires special effort and may not work with the dumbest phones.

I have a separate "bicycling" phone. Since there is danger of losing my iPhone, it makes sense to all for me to have one that is not used all the time and there isn't the danger of weather or other things messing with the "real" one.

Any phone you can purchase now can be tracked via GPS. Keep it turned off. Sgt. Pigg can still activate it and track you even if it is turned off, but this requires special effort and may not work with the dumbest phones. Originally Posted by Buying a *Way to Heaven

Actually just powering off a cell phone is not sufficient to completely power it off. If you're really paranoid, pop the battery and store it in some sort of shielded container.

Unfortunately some modern smart phones, such as iPhone and new Android models, do not have a removable battery. However, and older "feature phone" should still let you pop the battery.

Does anyone have any experience with software-based solutions, like the "Burner" app? I'm very familiar with the app and use it for buying and selling stuff on Craigslist, but I don't know if people use it for hobby purposes.

In the past I have given out my "real" phone number to a provider, and although nothing negative came out of it, she did text me every now and then trying to drum up repeat business. That bugged me, and thankfully I haven't heard from her in years. I don't want my "real" number sitting around in someone's address book, to be mined by Johnny Law if they pick her up for solicitation.

That would really suck--getting a text message from a known "regular" provider, and not knowing that it's a sting because she was arrested. I am just now getting back into the hobby, and I may set up a "code word" with any regular providers, to serve as sort of a canary to validate their identity.

Any recommendations for a burner phone? My old one has died and I am now in the market for a new one. I don't hobby very frequently, so these are what I would look at:

1) Inexpensive to maintain, i.e. I want to pay the minimum fees to keep the phone topped up and in service.
2) I would like a full keyboard, whether hard or soft. The old flip phone texting is a pain.
3) No real world information needed to activate the service.

All suggestions are welcome!

Either a Virgin Mobile or Trac that you can get from Walmart and purchase top off cards with cash. I recommend a flip phone - yes, its a pain, but with a flip phone, you can take the battery out and GPS tracking is minimal (see comments above). As you state, you don't hobby much, so the texting should not be too bad. Good luck!

Thanks, I went with Tracfone. I picked up a basic Android smartphone with a removable battery. I disabled Location services and Wifi access (which can be used to guess at your location). I am using Tracfone's LTE service only, although I may use WiFi if I am at some anonymous coffee shop (never at my home or office).

Tracfone is the cheapest deal for maintaining long term light service - you need to top up $20 every 3 months for a total of $80 per year.

I went through the activation process anonymously:
I paid cash for a phone and a top up card.
I activated the phone without having to provide any personal information.
I created a Google account from the phone using a pseudonym.
I enabled the Screen Lock feature which encrypts the entire phone.

got my hobby phone today. Went with Verizons Galaxy J1 and a $45 plan, total $103 and some change at Walmart.

For the record, Google Voice is actually pretty anonymous. If you attach your real phone number to it, any calls to the Voice number would redirect to your real one *unless* you are logged on. Meaning, if you are currently logged in to your Google Voice account via PC, then calls at the time or during your time logged in will ring on screen, assuming your browser is working fine, and your connection can keep up with the process.

Your real phone # is not revealed unless you have given it out. When making calls from Google Voice, you can use ''hangouts'' and do it from the Computer if you are really not sure about which number will show up. You can test it on a friends phone, or your own, calling the destination number via Hangouts option on Google Voice on PC. When using a web browser, Chrome, Firefox or otherwise, always remember to clear cookies after closing out.

Using programs like CCleaner (C Cleaner) can help rid adware from your computer and at the same time, remove logs and other important internal files related to your Internet/Computer history that can be tracked.

Lastly, using a VPN helps to remain untraceable, even if a Cop were to 'try' and track your Voice account, if you log-in via an IP address that is secure, then by the time they Subpoena Google for the records, your trace will be long gone. It's all about how you play your cards and the order in which you play them.

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How does one go about getting a hobby phone? How exactly do they work? Should I get a separate prepaid phone or is the some way to use a separate number on my current phone?

Thanks in advance. Originally Posted by 2jaded

Prepaid phone when hiring professionals in adult business......I have one and when I'm done working in the business.I'm going to destroy it.