Free USA online numbers: do they work?

Many services on the Internet ask for a phone number to verify a created account. They usually send you a code to that number, which you must enter in the account registration process to complete the verification.

So far so good. However, the situation is complicated when you need to create an account from a country in which you are not located. For example, you are in Mexico and you need to create a United States Google account (maybe to download apps only available in that country), create an account Google Voice, a service that is only available in “USA” for conventional users. Maybe create an account PayPal United States, to make purchases in online stores in that country. In this case, your Mexican phone number will not work for you. The service will not recognize it as valid and you will not be able to complete the creation of your American account.

In that case, it is useful to obtain an online or virtual telephone number from the United States or the country you are interested in. In the online inbox of that number you will see the confirmation code that will help you complete the creation of your account.

There are many websites, applications and services that offer you this type of virtual or “disposable” cell phone number, both for free and for a fee. I have tried several of these services and although in some cases the free ones may work perfectly, in others they may not. If you enter them for certain accounts, they may be rejected. If this is the case, you will necessarily have to resort to buying a virtual number.

Free web pages

Most people use the toll-free numbers on these pages to perform SMS verification of a service. You simply enter the site, choose a phone number and you will have access to your SMS inbox. Finally, you enter that phone number in the service you want to register and in that online tray you should receive your verification code. If not, update the page or try another number.

I have tried several of these services, including receive-smss.com Y smsreceivefree.com. In them I have seen that their phone numbers receive verification codes from multiple services, including WhatsApp, Microsoft account, Apple ID, Amazon OTP, PayPal and even verification codes from Google.

However, I am not sure if what is seen in these services is true or just a montage to make it appear that they work. In particular, whenever I have used them to verify Google United States or Tinder accounts, just by entering them in the registry I have received notices such as “This phone number has been used many times”, “This phone number cannot be used for verification “or” Oops, we can’t send a message to such. ”

You should indeed try your luck with them first of all, but if they don’t work for you, you shouldn’t be surprised. Companies like Google are aware of these strategies and are responsible for blocking such numbers used by many people. When you enter them, their systems automatically detect them and generate an error for you.

Mobile apps

I have also tried mobile apps, including Hushed, one of the most popular. Lately I tried to register in it again and now I have not even been able to do that.

In this case the results were similar: either the service I was trying to register for either rejected the number or accepted it but never received the confirmation code.

I even bought a Hushed “premium” number for around $ 3 to get my Google account confirmation code and never did.

Again, before paying for something like that, you may first want to try the apps with toll-free numbers.

So far, the most effective option I know of to verify by SMS a complicated service, such as a Google account from another country or Google Voice, is to buy a Skype number. It has virtual numbers from multiple countries, including the United States, as well as other countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. You can pay by credit card or PayPal.

I have bought a phone number here a couple of times and was able to verify by SMS my Google account United States no problem, as well as an account of DoNotPay (code I never received from the toll-free services mentioned above). If you want a temporary number, you can buy it one month for around $ 7. And if you stop paying, they reserve it for you for a while in case you want to reactivate it in the future.

Once you acquire your Skype number, download the Skype app on your mobile (the normal version, not the “lite” version) and from there you can check the messages that reach you.

Conclution

The only service I need to check is Burner, one of the most named in terms of online numbers. However, its price is $ 5 per month, slightly less than Skype. In addition, it is only used to obtain a number from the United States, previously consulting a state or city code to see if there are available numbers.

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