Why Using Your Personal Phone Number on Craigslist is Dangerous

Craigslist is a North American-oriented website for publishing advertisements and job offers, founded in 1995. Its basic features are similar to many digital ad boards around the world. But a variety of exclusive options, including forums, information services and customized ads, make it unique.

No payments are required to create Craigslist account or use it. They make revenue with commissions on posting in some categories, including job offers, apartment rentals or real estate in some cities, vehicle sales/rentals, and certain events. The fee amount depends on the region where you post.

These features helped attract 60 million users from 700 Canada/US-based neighborhoods. If interested, you can try Craigslist, but the utilization requires several inconvenient things, including mobile number verification. Regarding this, many wonder — is Craigslist safe to use?

Related: “How to register and start selling on OLX without a phone number“

Phone Numbers on Craigslist

Answering this, it’s wise to learn the website’s terms of service. Craigslist doesn’t make you register an account to view the website advertisements and contact users. A profile lets users monitor publications in a uniform interface, making it comfortable to register on the website instead of viewing it without a profile.

If you want to create Craigslist account, you need to undergo a simple procedure:

1. Go to the official Craigslist website at www.craigslist.org.
2. In the top corner on the right, click on the registration button.
3. Select the desired region and click “Continue”.
4. Enter your email and come up with a strong password.
5. Confirm your email by clicking on the special link in the email.

The notification about the phone number verification appears when you publish ads. The system will ask you to enter a verification code, which will be sent to your phone. After the procedure is complete, you can use all the features of the site. This has its pros and cons related to usability and security.

Requiring the phone number relates to safety issues. Digital boards like Craigslist are commonplace for scammers or spammers to gather. To prevent threats, a phone number for Craigslist posting is needed. It helps sift out fraudsters from using the website, not to mention track and ban them.

Some users prefer security over anonymity and feel OK providing private information to big services like Craigslist that make users exchange a piece of data for comfort. But it has underwater rocks you should consider, as they affect your security when you create Craigslist account and use it.

Why You Shouldn’t Give Your Phone Number to Craigslist

Those who reject transferring a number to publish an ad on Craigslist consider it a safety threat and privacy violation, given they don’t know the website’s real opinion on using customer data. Nobody wants their personal info uncontrollably used by services many people look for ways to show the least amount of info possible.

There are no confirmed cases of Craigslist selling its users’ information to anybody, but its servers have periodically been attacked by hackers and fraudsters who spread computer malware. It means giving them any information beyond generated email and password is dangerous, not to mention pointless.

With all these reasons in mind, many users look for bypass solutions to avoid sharing phone number on Craigslist.

Note! if the system figures the mismatching, it considers your account fake and bans it. Thus, be very careful searching for sideways to create Craigslist account and publish ads with it. Some services demonstrate guarantees, fake testimonials, but in reality, are crooks.

How to get a Virtual Phone Number for Craigslist

Virtual mobile numbers are the cloud-based phone numbers that exist apart from any physical device. They let you receive SMS message from anywhere at any time, making them comfortable to purchase or utilize online. Using them is untraceable and doesn’t require any special skills or additional software.

SMS-man offers cost-effective virtual phone numbers that can receive text messages. This makes the service the best solution for safely using Craigslist while keeping your personal information private.

Below is a simple guide to getting a virtual phone number for Craigslist:

1. Log in or create an account on the sms-man.com platform using your email;
2. Find the ” Top up my balance” button and use one of the available payment systems to make a deposit.
3. Choose any mobile operator country and “Craigslist” service on the main page;
4. Click on the “Buy” button next to the selected service to add the phone number to the “History” section;
5. Copy it from the “History” section and use it to validate your account;
6. When the system asks for a confirmation code, go back to SMS-Man and click on ” Receive SMS “;
7. Enter the verification code to complete the verification process.