Why does nobody talk about using a burner number for 2FA instead of your real cell?

I setup my bank login with a Google Voice number 3 years ago and never had a single spam call or SIM swap attempt. My buddy used his real number and got hit with a port-out scam that locked him out of his accounts for 2 weeks. Has anyone else made the switch to a virtual number for critical logins?

4 comments

4 Comments

noah9145d ago

Drive the point home and start using one before you learn this lesson the hard way.

the_ben5d ago

Used to think it was overkill too but after reading threads like this I'm starting to rethink that lol.

emery_craig5d ago

Yeah I used to think that was overkill but honestly this changed my mind.

thomas.cameron5d ago

Man, that part about your buddy getting port-out scammed is exactly why I made the switch too. It's not paranoia when you actually see it happen to someone you know, you know? I use a separate number just for banking and anything really security sensitive, and it feels like a cheap insurance policy (like $20 a year or whatever). The peace of mind from knowing nobody can social engineer their way into my phone account is honestly worth way more than the hassle of setting it up. Sorry your friend had to learn the hard way, but hopefully his story wakes some other people up before they get burned too.