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POF (or Plenty of Fish) is a Canadian dating website, developed by software engineer Marcus Frind back in 2003, which makes it not only one of the oldest but also most respected among similar services. Later, in 2010, Plenty of Fish launched the mobile application for iPhone and Android. In a few years, plenty of fish app also became available for Windows mobile phones.
As for the number of users, by 2015 the company database amounted to 100 million registered users. The service supports 9 languages and is mostly used in Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Brazil, and the USA.
As online dating is a rather delicate topic, we often want to keep it out of the public eye: our real-life friends and social media acquaintances. But dating services including POF require phone number confirmation. Though, is it possible to stay anonymous online? Looking ahead — yes, it is.
In today’s post we will cover what is Plenty of Fish along with its best features and opportunities. Make it clear why the app asks for a phone number as well as figuring out how someone can pass verification without providing a personal phone number.
Related: “How to create a completely anonymous Tinder account“
Plenty of Fish — Main Features and Advantages
Similar to most dating sites, POF allows you to register a free account and later expand its functionality by purchasing a premium version. But, unlike similar services, it offers a wide range of free features including unlimited messaging and the possibility to see who has viewed your profile. You can also send so-called icebreakers to those you feel interested in.
One of the main features of the app is its thorough questionnaire. When creating plenty of fish account, you’ll need to respond to a bunch of questions from education to religion views and income along with some basic information like gender and age. The more sincere responses you give, the better matches you’ll find using the app.
In addition to a questionnaire, the POF service offers something else, like:
- Huge user database that provides a great dating opportunity for people in small cities and rural areas.
- Wide range of user intents from a long-term relationship to an occasional date or a hookup.
- A robust set of FREE search features from physical parameters to marital status, kids-related questions, attitude to smoking, and others.
Besides, the best thing about POF dating platform is that even without an upgrade, it still remains a usable service.
Now, after we’ve discussed some intriguing aspects of the POF service, let’s move on to why you will need to provide a phone number for plenty of fish — and how you can pass verification without revealing your personal data.
Anonymity on POF — All You Need to Know
Back in the 2010s, it was quite easy to create plenty of fish account without any of your real personal information being revealed. However, later, after numerous hacker attacks and personal data of over 30 million users being leaked into the web, PoF developers strengthened their security system, including asking for phone number verification.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean you have to provide your personal phone number for plenty of fish registration.
Even with the increased level of security, dating sites still remain not the most secure and private environment. You can never be one hundred percent sure who is texting you on the other side of the screen, whether it’s a scammer or some troll. Besides, many people are looking for an opportunity to visit dating platforms anonymously — without their friends and acquaintances being notified about it. Therefore, it’s clear why not everyone is ready to share his or her personal data such as a phone number.
In this case, today’s digital world offers a few options, for instance, obtaining a virtual phone number that can receive SMS — once or numerous times, depending on your purpose.
How to Create a Plenty of Fish Account without a Phone Number
SMS-man is an online platform that allows you to buy a virtual phone number for anonymous registration in social networks, messengers, applications and dating sites. The platform has over 180 different countries to choose from to activate more than a thousand services and applications.
By following these simple steps, you can register a PoF account without providing your private phone number:
- Register at sms-man.com using your email address or social media account;
- On the “Top up my balance” page, choose a payment method and make a deposit;
- Select the appropriate country and “pof.com” service on the main page;
- Click the button “Buy” in front of the marked service and go to the history of your requests. Here you’ll find the purchased telephone number;
- Enter it when you register for Plenty of Fish and wait for the system to send you a verification code;
- Then go back to your SMS-man account and click on “Receive SMS” to the right of the received phone number;
- Send the PoF verification code to complete the account registration.
Vyacheslav is SEO expert at SMS-MAN. He also writes on virtual numbers and SMS verification issues on SMS-man Blog.
You can reach Vyacheslav at: z@sms-man.com