All About Craigslist Phone Verification [Top Hacks] – DoNotPay
Craigslist is a world-known advertisement website established in 1995. Apart from being widely popular and covering more than 70 countries, it also has an outstanding 60-million user traffic per month.
This platform uses phone verification, which you need to pass to be able to place ads. If you feel uncomfortable about sharing personal info with the service, we can show you how to solve this without giving away your real contact details.
Why Does Craigslist Ask for Phone Verification?
Bearing in mind that advertisement platforms can be a fertile ground for spammers, Craigslist uses this verification method to make sure the website users aren’t robots.
The platform also wants to prevent inappropriate ads and suspicious activities that may violate any rules prescribed by the Terms & Conditions. As TechCrunch states, this has turned out to be an effective anti-spam solution after years of struggling.
What Does the Craigslist Verification Process Look Like?
Craigslist phone verification page usually appears once you prepared the text of your ad, attached the photos, and clicked to post it. There are slight chances that this step might be omitted, but certain posts on Quora state that you have to go through the verification procedure for more than 90% of ad posts.
Here’s how this process works:
You should input your phone number and choose whether you want to receive a text message code or an automated call
Click on Send Verification Code and wait to receive a code
Once you get the text message or hear the code, you should type it in the required field and click on Submit Verification Code
If you don’t get the code within five minutes, you should select Try Again. Note that you can try only three different phone numbers within 12 hours and that you can’t make more than five mistakes while entering the code.
The Craigslist phone verification system will allow you to proceed further only if your phone number has one of the U. S. area codes, and it isn’t a toll-free number.
Why Do People Use Burner Phones?
Depending on the service you are using, you might not want to share personal details online or let unknown people have them. This might be the case with auction websites, online retailer platforms, or dating apps such as Tinder or Badoo. No one wants to put themselves at risk before making sure they are speaking to a trustworthy person, which is why it’s always easier to get a burner phone or a fake phone number app and use it instead of the real one.
Also, numerous providers require your phone number when you sign up for a membership or specific service, but not all of them stop at verification. It remains in their databases and gives them a chance to start a series of spam texts or emails, offering other related services and stuffing your inbox daily.
For these and many other reasons, people look for fake phone numbers that won’t be connected to their real phones and which can prevent the inconvenience.
What Are the Ways To Bypass Phone Verification?
People come up with various creative ideas on how to avoid giving personal details online and protect their privacy. The table below shows several popular ways of bypassing phone verification:
Method
Pros
Cons
Finding Fake Phone Numbers on Google
Quick solution
Questionable effectiveness
Google Voice
Free
Permanent
User-friendly web interface
No customer service to help with issues
Not well-optimized for iPhone users
Physical Burner Phones
No contracts
No stored information
Can be bought in most tech stores
High cost
Not permanent
You can always ask a close person—a friend, spouse, or family member—to use their phone number for verification if they don’t mind having it exposed.
How To Bypass Craigslist Phone Verification With DoNotPay
If you aren’t thrilled about disclosing your real phone number during the verification process, DoNotPay gives you a helping hand with its Burner Phone feature.
We offer you the possibility to generate a temporary phone number to receive a code and bypass any verification with no fuss. This means that no one can abuse your contact details.
Here’s how to generate your burner number with our app:
Log in to DoNotPay in your web browser
Choose the Burner Phone feature
Pick the company whose verification process you want to bypass and click on Create a temporary number
Once they send a text message code, DoNotPay will display it, giving you a chance to use the code in the next ten minutes. After this period is over, the system will deactivate the number and erase the received message.
Apart from being an easy and quick solution, this feature can save you some cash because burner phones and temporary phone apps might cost you more than $50 per number.
Use Our Virtual Credit Cards for Safe Free Trials
Various programs and platforms require leaving your bank details when signing up for a free trial and charge you a monthly fee automatically once the trial period ends. It can be frustrating, especially if all you wanted was a free trial.
DoNotPay doesn’t only generate burner numbers—we can also create a Free Trial Card with a unique 16-digit number and security code, which you can use for free trials with zero risk. You will avoid being charged after the trial period as the virtual card isn’t connected to your real bank account.
The subscription will be terminated automatically, so you can feel free to start trials for any service, including:
eFax
Spotify
T-mobile
SiriusXM
What Else Can DoNotPay Do?
We have established a system that can help anyone bypass phone verification with no fuss. Thanks to our feature, you can verify Venmo, PayPal, Tinder, Twilio, Snapchat, Facebook, MeetMe, or any other service by opening DoNotPay in your web browser.
You can learn what’s the best way to report harassment from your ex-partner, what happens if you answer a robocall, or how to prevent such calls on a landline.
All this awaits once you open DNP in your web browser. We can take over:
Finding any unclaimed funds under your name
Filing warranty claims or appeals
Waiving college application fees
Protecting your work against copyright infringement
Dealing with credit cards issues
Fighting speeding tickets
Canceling subscriptions or memberships
Getting revenge on robocalls
Disputing traffic tickets
Suing people and companies in small claims court
Scheduling a DMV appointment fast and easy
Applying for clinical trials
Getting refunds and compensation for delayed or canceled flights
Dealing with bills you are unable to pay
Protecting yourself from stalking and harassment
Getting refunds from companies
Signing up for free trials risk-free
Getting rid of spam mail forever
Stopping text spam
Contesting parking tickets
Getting in touch with your incarcerated loved ones
Jumping the phone queue when getting in touch with customer service reps
Signing up for other services without phone verification
Want your issue solved now?
about | help | phone verification – craigslist
How does phone verification work?
You will be prompted to enter your phone number. After entering it, you should receive an automated phone call or text message (SMS) containing a verification code. Enter this code on the next page of the process.
What if I type my phone number incorrectly?
Wait 5 minutes, then click “try again. ” Please note:
You may only try to call a phone number once every five minutes.
You may only enter the code five times.
You may only try three phone numbers per account every twelve hours.
You may only receive three calls per account every twelve hours.
Disallowed numbers for phone verification:
Phone numbers from outside the US, Canada, Australia, or the UK.
Toll-free numbers (area codes 800, 877)
Some VOIP or pre-paid mobile numbers
Phone numbers that require an extension
Error message says phone number is “already in use”?
The number you are trying to use for verification is already associated with another craigslist account. Account holders may unlink phone numbers from existing accounts in good standing 90 days after verification.
Problems? Let us know.
Craigslist Locks Down Site With Phone Verification
Craigslist has long had problems with spam. The one feature that has made the site a success, the ease at which one can post, has become a hindrance as spammers and law breakers have taken over. In early March Craigslist began what is now turning out to be an incredibly effective anti-spam campaign by using phone verification on posts. In an initial effort to rid their “erotic services” section of prostitution and pornography ads, Craigslist has now slowly expanded the system to other service categories within the site.
The system is simple and, thus far, largely unavoidable. When a user attempts to make a post, Craigslist asks for verification with a viable phone number. It then automatically calls the number and issues a verification code which must be re-entered for the post to go live. If the post gets flagged, the phone number is blacklisted, preventing any further posts from that number. The key to this is that, while email addresses are cheap and disposable, phone numbers are not.
This could be a nightmare for Craiglist advertisers as the service expands, and they have yet to find a way to circumvent it. One popular idea has been cheap VoIP numbers, but VoIP services usually charge a fee of a couple dollars after the third or fourth number. This quickly adds up when posting hundreds of advertisements. The only affordable solution thus far has been using public pay phones.
The issue has been around forever on the web, and most solutions involve either moderation within the company, or user and community moderation (which is the model Craigslist adopted). There is a careful balance in trying to keep content clean, but at the same time not taking away the main attraction of the site. Using a phone number is just a short-cut way to establishing some form of identifier token, rather than using email addresses.
Though this should drastically limit spamming for Craiglist, the service may make honest posters think twice if they must publicly display their phone number. It also could prove to be a nuisance to honest users who are illegitimately flagged. In the end, the service gives direct results, and should keep Craigslist largely spam free for now, although at a slight cost to user convenience.
Frequently Asked Questions about craigslist verification website
How do I verify a number on Craigslist?
How does phone verification work? You will be prompted to enter your phone number. After entering it, you should receive an automated phone call or text message (SMS) containing a verification code. Enter this code on the next page of the process.
Does Craigslist do phone verification?
When a user attempts to make a post, Craigslist asks for verification with a viable phone number. It then automatically calls the number and issues a verification code which must be re-entered for the post to go live. … The key to this is that, while email addresses are cheap and disposable, phone numbers are not.Jul 17, 2008
How do I post on Craigslist without 2020 verification?
How To Bypass Craigslist Phone Verification With DoNotPayLog in to DoNotPay in your web browser.Choose the Burner Phone feature.Pick the company whose verification process you want to bypass and click on Create a temporary number.