Acceptable use, in plain language

PhoneBorn numbers are real mobile numbers that can send SMS and make calls, not just receive codes. That makes them useful — and it means every message and call from your number is your responsibility. This page summarises the rules so you can understand them in a minute.

It is a summary, not a replacement. The binding rules are in the Acceptable use and Suspension and termination sections of our Terms of Service. If this page and the Terms ever differ, the Terms apply.

PhoneBorn exists to help people keep their personal number private. Typical, welcome uses include:

• Privacy. Giving a separate number to online marketplaces, dating apps, delivery services or sign-up forms instead of your personal one.
• Separating work and personal life. For example, a freelancer who wants clients to reach a business line that is not on their personal phone. See second phone number.
• Verifying your own accounts. Receiving codes for accounts that you own and operate, on platforms that accept the number. Keep a plan renewed for any account you may need to recover later.
• Testing your own apps. Developers checking the SMS or phone-verification flow of software they build, using the API.
• Travel and relocation. Keeping a stable number for your accounts while you move between countries — see phone numbers for travellers and expats.

The common thread: genuine communication by you.

You may not use PhoneBorn, directly or indirectly, for any of the following:

• Spam and bulk messaging. Unsolicited commercial messages, mass messaging or marketing campaigns of any kind. Plan allowances are for person-to-person conversations, not campaigns.
• Robocalls and auto-dialling. Automated or pre-recorded calls, auto-dialled calls, call-centre traffic or missed-call ("wangiri") schemes.
• Harassment and threats. Harassing, threatening, stalking, blackmailing, intimidating or abusing anyone, or contacting someone who has asked you to stop.
• Fraud and phishing. Scams, SMS or voice phishing, identity theft, account takeover or any financial crime.
• Impersonation and spoofing. Pretending to be another person, business or authority, spoofing caller identity or misrepresenting who you are affiliated with.
• Manipulating platforms. Creating accounts in bulk to game reviews, votes, promotions or referral schemes.
• Evasion. Evading a ban, sanction, court order or law-enforcement action — including using a new number to get around a platform's ban on you.
• Illegal content. Accessing, sending, receiving or distributing illegal content, including child sexual abuse material.
• Traffic abuse and resale. Generating artificial traffic, routing SMS or calls through the service for resale, or reselling the service in breach of the Terms.
• Attacking the service. Reverse-engineering, probing or disrupting its security, or overloading it beyond documented API limits.
• Anything illegal. Breaking any law that applies to you, to the person you contact or to us, including telemarketing, consent and data-protection rules.

Unsure? Ask us first.

A PhoneBorn number does not change the rules of the apps you use it with. WhatsApp, Telegram, Google, Instagram, banks and every other service set their own terms — including which numbers and countries they accept and how many accounts a person may hold. You are responsible for complying with them.

We do not help anyone get around platform restrictions, and our guides do not publish workarounds for bans, geo-restrictions, rate limits or fraud checks. Our editorial policy explains that rule. If a platform will not accept a number, that is its decision; the legitimate options are trying another country or contacting the platform. Whether using a second number is lawful where you live is covered in is it legal to use a second phone number? — general information, not legal advice.

To protect our network, our telecom partners and other customers, the Terms allow us to:

• apply automated limits and checks to outgoing SMS and calls, such as rate limits or blocking premium-rate destinations;
• suspend outgoing SMS and calls, or suspend or terminate the account, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe the Terms have been breached, receive credible abuse reports about a number, or are required to by law;
• release numbers and cancel pending orders on a suspended or terminated account.

Where termination results from a breach of the acceptable-use rules, any remaining wallet balance is forfeited. We also cooperate with valid, legally binding requests from competent authorities, as described in the Privacy Policy. Because we collect very little personal data, what we can disclose is limited — but abuse of the service is never protected.

If you received spam, a scam message, a threatening call or any other abusive contact from a number you believe is a PhoneBorn number, email [email protected] or use the contact form. Please include:

• the number that contacted you, in full international format;
• the date, time and your time zone;
• the message text or a short description of the call.

A person reviews every report and replies within 24 hours, 7 days a week. We act on credible reports. If you are in immediate danger or have been the victim of a crime, contact your local police first.