How to Use POF Without a Phone Number
You can’t use POF (Plenty of Fish) without a phone number. You need to be able to read the verification code they send you if you wish to activate your account. The trick to using POF without a phone number is through using another phone, or another phone number that’s not your own. Here’s how to use POF without using your own phone number.
Why Has POF Started Demanding Number Verification?
There are several reasons for this. Firstly, it deters people who are trying to hide their activities from their spouses. Secondly, it lowers the number of cheaters on the POF system, many of whom don’t buy premium accounts. And many of whom damage the experience that other users have on the dating site.
The publicized reason why POF started number verification was because of spammers. There were several varieties of spammer who made POF a difficult website/app/service to visit. The most common were stalkers and trolls who got banned and then started new accounts to continue harassing the same person. Other spammers were tricking people into doing things like paying for train tickets or phone bills on the promise of meeting. The most annoying spammers were those advertising sex sites by sending messages with nudity and links attached.
The Simplest Answer Is to Use Somebody Else’s Phone Number
Do you have a friend, family member, or even a colleague who doesn’t mind you using their phone number to verify your account on POF? Don’t do so behind somebody’s back, of course. This could lead to untold problems, including prosecutable fraud, where you could be sued for thousands in damages.
The hardest part is figuring out what to tell the other person. You could tell them that your phone was banned. Then again, such a person may be afraid that you’ll have their phone number banned from POF too.
Rent a Phone Number Online for a Day
It’s possible to rent a phone number for a day for a one-off fee. You may pick a service where you can send and receive SMS messages, or pick a service where you can send and receive phone calls. You’ll have to rent a suitable phone number in your own country, and then use that number to verify your account.
There are companies like SMSPVA who allow you to rent a phone number, and allow you to rent a service for whichever platform you’re planning to use. They even have POF listed as one of their verification services.
These sorts of services are pretty cheap if you only need to verify your account upon activation. If you’re using something like an online savings account where they ask you to verify your phone number every time, it can become expensive because you have to pay for longer contracts (unless you can remove phone verification from your account).
Also, beware if you lose your email address for whatever reason, and need to re-access your POF account, as they’re going to send a message to your phone number. If you used a phone rental service, you’ll have to rent the same phone number again, (which may be difficult).
A Message-Receiving Service
Be careful when using a message-receiving service because anti-spam software is very aware of them, and most are blacklisted. Here are a few you can try, but caution is advised. Firstly, message-receiving services aren’t above stealing your information or selling your information, and many free services send messages to your recipient with adverts on them. Also, you’ll be auto-signed up for every third-party spam service this side of the equator, so don’t use them lightly.
There’s Smsreceivefree.com and Freesmsverification.com which are free, and there’s Receivesmsonline.com and Tempophone.com that have limited free functions.
There’s a paid service called Text Magic that’s a little safer because they’re making their money from you directly and not from selling your information or signing you up for spam services.
Number Hiding Services
Contrary to what you read in other articles, a number-hiding service won’t help you verify your phone. Even the ones that allow you to receive replies, because POF has protocols set up to ignore hidden numbers. If the number has been corrupted in any way, POF simply won’t send the verification number. You’re going to have to rent a number, or borrow somebody else’s phone.
Pay with a Credit Card or PayPal
No matter which service you’re using, be it a phone number rental, a message receiving service, or a number hiding service, you must pay with either PayPal or a credit card. If you use something like a debit card or a bank card, then you’re giving away far too much information to what could be an unregulated company.
In addition, if you use PayPal or a credit card and the company tries to overcharge you, such as by saying you used the service more than you did, then you have some form of recourse. PayPal and credit cards will fight your corner and make sure you get your money back. Paying with Bitcoin, wire transfers or your bank account won’t offer such protection.
Is It Worth the Effort?
Unlike other articles on the subject, we’ve offered genuine methods to get around the POF verification function. Yet, you have to ask yourself why you would want to. If you’re doing it because you’re cheating and don’t want your spouse to find out, then maybe you need to reassess your relationship. If you’re trying to skip the verification process because you were banned before, then maybe examine your behavior and ask yourself if there are better ways to meet people.
What do you think? Should people be trying to circumvent the SMS verification system? Which of the mentioned methods would you use to get around the POF verification system? Let us know in the comments section below.
12 thoughts on “How to Use POF Without a Phone Number”
my oppo phone AX5s
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Useful, because I’m one of those rarities who don’t own a cellphone, and I can’t get a signal in the rural area I live anyway.