Sponsored Content. Alternative ID can protect you from scammers - Image credit: Surfshark. A lot of damage can be done with a person's phone number, from endless spam calls to fraud and scams. Surfshark Alternative Number can protect you. Phone numbers may not seem like a potential attack vector since users can just hang up on spam, but it's not as simple as that. Companies have begun relying on phone numbers to verify identity, send temporary passwords, and other aspects of account security that scammers seek to exploit.
If you're using your personal phone number on online accounts, it can be trivial for bad actors to exploit it and gain access to that account. Whether they use SIM swapping, phishing, or other techniques, access to a phone number can lead to data loss, bank account hacks, and identity theft. Thankfully, it's not all doom and gloom. If users find themselves in a situation where a phone number is required to create or access an account, Surfshark has your back.
A feature called Alternative Number can provide users with a decoy phone number they control for use on specific websites or services. It is offered as an add-on to Alternative ID, which is included in a Surfshark One subscription, which we've detailed here. When a user needs to provide a phone number online, they can go to the Surfshark app and generate an Alternative Number. By providing that number, the user will still get calls and texts needed for operating that account, but that phone number is isolated to that account.
So, if scammers, hackers, data brokers, or anyone else gets ahold of that Alternative Number, it can't be used for anything beyond the accounts it is associated with. The user's actual phone number remains obfuscated and free from scammers, spam, and other unwanted nonsense. The generated phone number is only available as a United States number. It also can't be used to receive 2FA verification codes.
Use Alternative Number when you want to create an account on a website you don't trust fully. That way, even if the website loses or sells your data, you're protected from scammers. One of the most simple attack vectors a scammer might implement is trying to phish personal or financial information from a user. By making unwanted calls and claiming to know aspects of the user's personal information, they might be able to obtain more critical information used in identity theft.
Alternative Number is a part of Surfshark One's Alternative ID. By using these services, the user can minimize their online digital footprint and keep personal information out of the hands of potential scammers. Keep your name, address, phone number, email address, and ID hidden from potential bad actors while still signing up for an account. Alternative ID lets users manage all of these pieces of information so their real info stays safe and hidden.
Another aspect of Surfshark One is Surfshark Alerts. If a user is alerted to a data breach that includes an Alternative Number, the user can easily switch to a different number for that account and keep control out of the scammer's hands. By combining all of these features and Surfshark VPN, Antivirus, and Search, a user can keep all of their data and devices safe. Surfshark's services are top-notch, with AppleInsider rating the Surfshark VPN the best VPN for iPhone and top Mac VPN in 2025.
Alternative Number is available with Surfshark Starter, One and One+ packages. A Surfshark One subscription is packed with tools that will help you minimize your digital footprint online and keep scammers away. Amazon's Presidents Day MacBook Air sale discounts the ultraportable laptops to as low as $749, with Best Buy offering flash deals today only as well. A new report about Spotify's plans for a more expensive premium tier claims that Apple is considering doing the same, but Apple Music has no reason to ever copy its streaming rival.
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