The Five Best Ways to Protect Your Cell Phone Number

Your cell phone number is legally considered private information, and therefore, it is not supposed to be listed in any directory. By law, your service provider should not sell or give out this information. Nonetheless, telemarketers and other unwanted callers may still locate your information and call your cell phone. To protect the privacy of your mobile phone number, consider enacting these five strategies.

Avoid Publishing Your Cell Number

It is wise not to give your cell number to companies who will use it for marketing purposes. For example, avoid giving out your mobile number when you make a purchase, complete a survey, or register for a prize drawing. By inadvertently "publishing" your number in this way, you will often find yourself receiving phone calls from unwanted people and companies trying to sell you a product you neither want nor need. In addition, even if your cell phone is your primary phone and you do not have a landline, you still want to exhibit caution in who has your contact information, as companies can lookup cell phone numbers that have been "published."

Consider Blocking Your Number When Making a Call

If you want to keep your number private when making certain calls, you can press *67 before you dial the number. This allows you to selectively block your number. Another way to block your number is to purchase per-line blocking from your cell phone provider. This guarantees that your number will never show up on anyone's Caller ID when you phone them. The only exceptions would be if you called "911" or an "800" number.

Add Your Number to the Do-Not-Call Registry

Though it is presently illegal for telemarketers to use auto-dialers to call cell phone numbers, it might be a wise choice to add your cell number to the Do-Not-Call Registry to help eliminate the possibility that your number might show up on a telemarketers desk somehow. You can do this online at www.donotcall.gov.

Get a Virtual Phone Number

Certain websites allow users to purchase what is called a "virtual phone number." According to these services, the number is untraceable, and when someone calls it, they will be redirected to your "real" phone number, but never know what the real number actually is. The service comes with voicemail and what is called "advanced do-not-disturb" functions. The prices range from $6.99 per month for 60 minutes of talk-time to $29.99 per month for 1,000 minutes of talk-time.

Pay Cash for a Pre-Paid Cell Phone

To absolutely guarantee that your cell phone numbers are not detectable, pay cash for a pre-paid cell phone. With this strategy, the seller, the bank, and the cell phone service provider will not have access to your personal information.