Virtual phone number — safe, easy to get, easy to use with Surfshark

The Internet has become a pretty busy space, with websites, apps, and services for pretty much everything. From banking to dating, from ordering food to shopping for chandeliers, from posting on your favorite forums to working remotely and entirely digitally.

With so much of our lives tied up with the online space, caution and security should be at the forefront of your mind. And, with smartphones being our primary way of staying always online — the phone is where you should start with security. In fact, in 2023, phone calls were the second biggest way scammers would get in contact with potential victims. With e-mail still being number 1.

How does your phone number or e-mail fall in the hands of scammers?

There are two main ways that happens. You may register for a completely innocent, well-meaning, and legitimate website, app, or service, yet their database gets hacked somewhere down the line. We’ve seen major companies fall victim to this — one’s you’d think are too big to fall —, to the point it’s wise to always be mindful of what information you enter in those subscription forms.

The second way is much more straightforward — some apps and some websites are just shady and can’t wait to either sell the collected data or use it themselves.

What can scammers use your email or phone number for? Here’s a quick list, from fairly safe to downright dangerous:

• Simple, but annoying spam - we’ve all dealt with the unwanted email or phone call. Nowadays, we deal with that pretty regularly
• Phishing - faux support emails or texts, pretending to be companies they are not, trying to get you to click a link, fill a form, call a number
• Social engineering attacks - elaborate mix between cyberattack and personal communication, which tries to use whatever information the attacker has on you to either get money, sensitive data like passwords or access, or just get them a step closer to getting that
• Identity theft - with leaked data, and everything being done online, malicious actors can begin forming a persona that’s supposedly “you”, order purchases, sign agreements, or other such thing and leave you as the person responsible

The tools to protect yourself

Luckily, there are now options to help you keep your private information away from the hands of those that shouldn’t have it in the first place.

If you were to subscribe to Surfshark’s VPN service, you get “Alternative ID”, even with the Starter subscription. It allows you to generate forward-facing “mask” email addresses, which you can use on those pesky websites that require an email for a one-time sign-in or purchase order. Any emails sent to you can be found in the Surfshark app, so you can choose to read or ignore them.

A step above: Alternative Number

Get Surfshark and Alternative Number

Alternative Number is offered as an upgrade for the Alternative ID package and, as you probably guessed it, gives you a “mask” phone number that you can use for every form, website, and place where you just don’t feel comfortable leaving your real digits.

Any messages and any calls can still be received — they come in through the Surfshark app. You can not use Alternative Number for outgoing calls, so the service itself can’t be used for malicious purposes. If you do wish to contact someone who previously only had your Alternative Number, you can easily add their details from the Surfshark app to your Contacts app.

You can use Alternative Number for any of those websites that require your number for a one-time service, like:

• Web platforms that offer a discount coupon
• E-commerce website that you may or may not end up using only once
• When shopping flight tickets and you need the notifications on flights and discounts
• Bookings and reservations
• When you need a single US number to keep in touch

Surfshark provides you with a singular US number (you can change it once per month, if you so wish). So, if you are traveling, using all sorts of different SIM cards for roaming or local service, you can still keep one steady US number for people from back home to call or leave messages on.

Learn more about Alternative Number