It's already irritating AF when someone you clearly don't want to give your number to badgers you for it, and the situation only gets worse when they insist on texting you to "make sure they got it right" — especially if you have given them a fake number. Thankfully, Phox's fake number app sends texts to your phone as if it really is your number, thereby satisfying creepers (as ridiculous as it is that we live in a world where this kind of thing happens in the first place), and giving you a graceful exit strategy from whatever situation you're in without the fear that they'll use your number to pull up your information later.
Its functions are incredibly realistic — you can receive texts and reply from the fake number in real time. If they try to call the number, it will ring as if it's busy. Using Phox, you never have to compromise yourself by giving out your actual number, making it easier to navigate not just the unsavory bar types and potential online dating matches, but also to protect yourself in Craigslist transactions or anything that looks a shade less-than-legitimate on the Internet. All 10 of your actual digits can rejoice!
Is this basically the technological equivalent of lying and saying, "Sorry, I've already got a significant other"? Kind of, yes. As problematic as it is that women still have to navigate the legitimately dangerous waters of men who are not satisfied with polite but firm rejections, the fact is that we do, and this is one more tool to have in your arsenal to keep yourself — and your private information — safe. And unlike the "significant other" excuse, its broader perks for using it on any reckless online shopping ventures (hellooooo, holiday shopping) make it well worth the price.
Phox is offering a seven-day free trial for the app, at which point it then charges $4.95 for 100 texts per month, or $9.95 for unlimited. Below is a demo that shows you how it works:
Now the only hard part is remembering your own Phox number off the top of your head — but I'm relatively confident that if I can still recite all of the lyrics to "... Baby, One More Time" 15 years after the fact, I can shove some room into my brain space for ten more numbers.
Images: Pixabay, Giphy
