How To Get an Anonymous Phone Number

Do you ever wonder why every time you make a new account somewhere, you’re expected to give up your phone number? There’s always some cheap excuse to ease you into it. Some companies say it’s to “verify you’re human” while others claim it helps “protect your account.”

What you aren’t told is that this is a stepping stone to ending anonymity, as phone numbers can easily be tied to real life identities.

This is bad news in a world where going against the official narrative is viewed as an act of “domestic terror,” and where individuals (and their families) can be sanctioned for expressing the “wrong” views.

Governments and corporations want to normalize online identity verification because it gives them more power over us. I’ll show you how to make that harder for them by getting an anonymous phone number.

Getting a JMP number

I like JMP because it's open source and lets me pay with crypto. Our goal is to use it to receive text messages on XMPP clients like Conversations or Gajim.

If you combine this with a trusted VPN and an email aliasing service, you can create accounts on Google, Discord, Telegram, etc. without revealing your real identity.

Note: Though there are only a few competitors in this market, I recommend silent.link as an alternative. There's an episode of the Opt Out podcast where Seth interviews the person behind that service.

A screenshot of JMP's homepage

Go to jmp.chat, scroll to the bottom of the page, and choose the phone number you want.

Selecting your JMP number

Click on I need to sign up for a new Jabber ID to use for this number.

You’ll be asked to make an XMPP account on ChatterboxTown, so let’s do that. Think of a username you don’t use anywhere else and generate a passphrase using KeePassXC.

Signing up for a new Jabber ID on ChatterboxTown

Next, Download Gajim (it's available as a Flatpak if your distro isn't on the list).

It will ask you to add an account when you first open it, so log in with the one you just made.

Once that’s done, go back to JMP and hit Next, then enter your new Jabber ID. You’ll instantly receive a message from cheogram.com with instructions for activating your new JMP number.

Registering with jmp.chat

Follow the steps and use BTC to pay for the service. Remember, you want to stay anonymous, so only use BTC you got at a Bitcoin ATM or from a reputable seller on decentralized exchanges like Bisq.

All done? Perfect! You’ll get a notification from cheogram.com whenever your JMP number receives a text. I recommend you use this number for any alias accounts or sock puppets you want to make.

I’ve always liked this method because easy to get what I need from mainstream platforms without putting my privacy in jeopardy.

#mobile #anonymity #xmpp