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There are many ways to hide or block your phone number to make a private call. Not every service or anyone you call needs to have your phone number. There are cases where you may need to keep your phone number confidential such as signing up for an online dating site or getting quotes from car dealers. Fortunately, there are several ways to make short-term anonymous calls or hide your number when making a call.
1. Hide your phone number with *67
The *67 is still one of the best ways to hide a phone number. This simple code works for both landlines and smartphones. To use the code, type *67 followed by the phone number you want to call.
The *67 code will hide your number on the recipient phone and show up as “Blocked” or “Private.” You will have to use the *67 code each time you want to hide your number and make a private call.
Tip: If an unknown number calls or texts you, you can find out who’s the person hiding behind that number by using a powerful service like BeenVerified, which is likely to get you the best result. They are one of the most popular reverse phone lookup platforms with billions of data points to potentially find out who a particular telephone number belongs to.
2. Block your number on iPhone and Android phone by default
If you wish to block your number on iPhone or Android phone, you can hide your outbound caller ID by adjusting your phone call settings – this will make every outbound calls appear private.
To block your phone number on Android:
1. Open the Phone app, and tap the “Menu.”
2. Tap “Settings” and select “Call Settings.”
3. Tap “Additional settings” and select “Caller ID.”
4. Tap “Hide number” to automatically hide your number for all outgoing calls.
To reverse and unblock your number, Go to step 4 and select “Show number” or “Network default.”
Some users and network providers will autoblock private numbers. You can use *82 to bypass these auto-reject filters. *82 is what you dial to “unblock” your phone number so that it shows up on caller ID. You have to type *82, followed by the recipient’s phone number. This allows your phone number to appear on the caller ID of the receiving phone.
Note that all calls placed to emergency services, like 911 or any toll-free numbers (800, 888, etc.), do show the phone number of the incoming call regardless of private or blocking call status. So basically, private calls do not work when calling emergency or toll-free numbers.
3. Block your number through your carrier
Your device may have a different process for hiding your phone number and can be problematic to block on a per-line basis. That’s where asking your carrier to help you hide your number for all outgoing calls can help.
Call 611 to connect to your carrier and speak to customer support. Some providers will automatically send you to the bill payment department. Make sure to tell the recording you want to speak to the support department. Tell the customer department representative you wish to set up a private number.
If you encounter call rejection (on a per-call basis), use *82 to temporarily bypass and unblock your number for that call.
4. Temporarily use a burner app
Another easy way to hide your number and make your call private is to use a burner number. The burner app gives you a temporary disposable second number that lets you use your internet data to make calls or send text messages. We’ve tested some of the best apps for hiding phone numbers and found that Hushed and Burner are two of the most reliable with superb options. You can access both in your browser or download it as an app for iOS and Android.
Hushed is a paid service with free options for users but cheaper than many of its competitors. Starting at $2 per week, you can call for 20 minutes and send 60 texts. There’s a $5 per month unlimited plan. You can cancel your plan at any time. The free basic plan allows Hushed users to call each other for free.
Burner is another great option for a temporary number. Burner has a 7-day free trial with a paid plan starting at $4.99 per month for a line. When you use your Burner number to call or text anyone, the recipient on the other end of your call will only see your Burner number on their phone. This allows your personal number to stay private.
5. Use Google Voice for your long-term private number
Google Voice lets you choose a new phone number to make unlimited calls within the U.S. for free, as well as voicemail, and text messages, among other features for free.
The best part about Google Voice is that it’s free to use; you don’t need to sign up for any monthly plan. When you make a call through your Google Voice number, it will use your internet data and existing airtime, but the number that appears on the recipient phone will be your Google Voice number. This allows you to easily make outbound calls without revealing your real number.
6. Hide your landline, too
You can also hide or make private calls using your landline. There are plenty of effective and valuable star codes that can help you manage your privacy whether you’re using a mobile or landline. Below are some of the most useful call codes:
*60: To block calls from specific phone numbers and send a recording to the callers that says you’re not accepting incoming calls.
*57: This code is handy when trying to track a call. It traces the last incoming received call.
*69: This code will redial the last phone number that called you.
*67: To block and hide your phone number on Caller ID systems.
*72: To forward your call to another phone number.
*70: This is to place your current call on hold so you can answer another incoming phone call.
*77: This code will help you block incoming anonymous private calls.
*82: To disable caller ID block for *67
*80: Disable call block for *60
*87: To disable automatic private call reject for *77
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