When you think about it, a phone number can be a liability — you can be reached by anyone who punches the right digits into their phone. It’s an identifying number, a source of spam, a potential avenue for identity theft or even harassment. That’s why separate “burner” numbers are gaining popularity. You probably have a junk email address, why not something similar for your phone number? Here are 4 reasons you might consider getting a burner number, followed by a couple ways you can actually get one.

1. Exchanging numbers:

That feeling when someone you’re not really keen on staying in touch with insists on trading numbers. Whether it’s someone looking for a date, do business or just be your best friend forever and ever (and ever), give them a number reserved specially for people who you’d rather keep at cell tower’s length.

2. Buying and Selling stuff:

Craigslist is useful, but it can also outdo the Mos Eisley cantina as a hive of scum and villainy. In the wilds of online dealmaking, it helps to keep things profesh and not too personal. Using a secondary number to deal with Craigslist buyers or sellers can help you keep a safe, comfortable distance before or after the deal goes down (or doesn’t, you know how CL can be).

3. Signing up for notices and services:

Whether it’s a newsletter, filling out online forms or registering for an event, there are plenty of places begging for you to put down your phone number. Most of the time it’s not actually to call you back for anything useful, but just a matter of procedure that you can keep all the more anonymous by using a burner number. If they need to get hold of you, they can, but otherwise it’s just one less copy of your number floating around on some stranger’s ledger.

4. Trolling:

Now of course we don’t in any way condone this, and would certainly, definitely never ever prank call someone (how could you even suggest…). But, if you’re going to make a prank call, one of the few ways to make sure the unlucky recipient doesn’t track you down to exact revenge is by using a burner number. Remember, crank calls can make people very, very mad.

Get a burner phone number of your own

KeepSolid Disposable Phone Lines: 1 year Subscription – 75% off

Receive up to 3 US or Canadian phone numbers with unlimited SMS, and unlimited calls on US lines. It’s a VolP-based app for iPhone and Android that encrypts calls and texts from its single-use numbers, eliminating the risks of spam, cold calls, even wire taps. You can even get local numbers and use them while traveling anywhere to save on long distance calls and roaming.

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Hushed Private Phone Line: Lifetime Subscription – 82% off

Use this app to make calls on a secondary number without committing to another expensive phone contract. You can choose the area code, customize your voicemail and use Wi-Fi or data to talk without additional service charges. This plan can be used towards a combination of 3,000 SMS messages or 500 phone minutes per year, on a life-long secondary number per account.

Buy now: get a lifetime burner number for $25, which is a huge discount of 82 percent.