Free second telephone VOIP number for social media

Lulu58

Hi, does anyone know of a reliable, free site where I can get a second telephone number for free to use for 2FA for social media sites like Instagram etc as I don't want to give them my actual telephone number?

I've looked at a few including textnow, hushed and vyke but the reviews suggest you get innundated with ads, they are unreliable, do not accept texts etc.

Neil_Jones

Why not just get a second sim if your phone has dual-sim capability?

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885981#Comment_81885981

Because not free?

tafelmoneysaver

Do you need the number to be permanent, or only valid for a short time?

1pmobile have a £1 for £10 credit offer at the moment. It's not free, but close 😀

sausage_time

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6655465/free-second-telephone-voip-number-for-social-media

Have you considered using an authenticator app?

See https://help.instagram.com/1582474155197965

More secure than SMS - and you don't need to give them a phone number.

Lulu58

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885981#Comment_81885981

Hi, as flaneurs_lobster suggests, it's not free.

Lulu58

Hi tafelmoneysaver, I probably need it to be permanent buy I'll check out 1p mobile. Thank you.

Lulu58

Hi sausage_time, I think I tried an authenticator app a while back and it didn't work out but I can't recall why. I'll take another look at the apps.Thank you.

unforeseen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81886307#Comment_81886307

Quite a lot of sites only do codes by text rather than using using the codes automatically generated by an authenticator

Lulu58

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81886318#Comment_81886318

Thanks, unforeseen.

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81886302#Comment_81886302

Had a bit of a look around, can't find any genuine free incoming SMS services, at least none that give you a personal number that you can register with a site for more than a few hours (at least in the UK).

Using a VPN you might be able to pretend to be in Utah and get a virtual US service that seems to be free but didn't look very hard at those options.

There are several that will give you access to a public number, useful for receiving a one-off code for something you are only using once, but the text is public - not too much of a problem for an Uber code but not really what you need for The Socials.

Think you are going to have to go with a "proper" SIM (e- or otherwise). If you just want incoming texts then any call plans are irrelevant, so the cheapest to set up that's readily available is Asda, get a "free" PAYG SIM with the cheapest £5 1-month package, make sure auto renew is off, after a month add another £5 of PAYG credit (optional) and just send a text every 180 days to keep it happy.

Could also look at a Classic O2 PAYG, available on eBay for buttons, needs £10 to activate.

I've had a RWG PAYG running for years with a tenner credit on it, but not heard much good news about them recently.