What do you do when your bad date wants a second date? You could give out your real phone number. Or you could get a backup phone number just in case the second date doesn’t work out. Or, if you’re devious, you could hand out a prank phone number that’ll surprise them when they try calling.
You can use one of the numbers below to escape without having to reject or disappoint the person on the spot. And you don’t have to worry about them spamming you with unwanted calls or texts. For ease of use, we sorted the numbers by location.
Note: If you can’t find a number with your area code, you could always make up a story of why you’re using a “foreign” number. For example, say it’s your business phone, that you just moved and haven’t changed your number yet, or claim that the plan attached to this number is too good to give up.
North America
1. The Rejection Line
Keep this number handy for the next time someone won’t leave you alone. File it in your contacts under a name you’ll be able to find quickly, for example your own name with the addition “private line”.
212-479-7990 New York, NY, USA
Once the offender calls “you”, the rejection line team will take care of them. The caller will hear a recorded voice mail with three options; a message from the team’s comfort specialist, a sad poem, or unrealistic hope.
You’re not from New York? View their list of copycat rejection lines for numbers in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and other cities across the US. They also have a number for England and Dublin, Ireland.
2. Callin’ Oates
This is the emergency Hall & Oates Hotline, the perfect fake number if you want to serve your bad date a soft rejection. It’s a bit like Rickrolling, but arguably with better music.
The hotline serves four different Hall & Oates songs:
- One on One
- Rich Girl
- Maneater
- Privatize
If you want to be extra cruel, give your date the correct “extension”.
Worldwide
1. FakeNumber
Not many services offer international fake phone numbers. FakeNumber.org covers the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Hungary, and Ireland. For each country, you can choose from several numbers.
We’ve picked one number for each country, otherwise missing from this article. Visit the site for the full list.
01632-960911 visit the United Kingdom sub-site for localized numbers
613-555-0152 head to the Canada sub-site for more local numbers
1900-654-321 go to the Australia sub-site to find more Australian numbers by region
06-55-423-338 Hungary
020-918-7177 Ireland
Note that the numbers are meant to not work! If you use one of these genuinely fake numbers, you won’t accidentally make up an innocent person’s actual number.
FakeNumber also offers a long list of US fake numbers, sorted by cities, from Albany to Washington. By the way, all-number.com looks like a copycat site of FakeNumber.
Australia
1. The Rejection Line
Familiar name, different continent. This number is for the folks down under.
In Australia, cell phone prefixes don’t reveal your location because they’re tied to providers instead. Hence, this number works anywhere in Australia:
0406-650-430 Australia (cell phone)
The only thing that picks up on this number is an answer phone. Voice messages are forwarded as a text message to the website, Twitter, and Facebook account behind this prank phone number.
Germany
1. Frank Geht Ran
Since cell phone prefixes in Germany — like in Australia — are provider-specific, this number won’t give away a location. Next time you feel forced to share your phone number, let Frank answer the phone for you.
0163-1737743 Germany (mobile)
0521-16391643 Germany (landline)
Frank will politely tell the person calling that you do not wish to be contacted by them. Because it’s neutral in terms of location and message, you can use it in all sorts of situations, for example in official forms. You can preview Frank’s message on the site; it’s German, of course.
2. TelefonPaul
The main objective of this German number is to deter telemarketers and the likes. Whenever asked for your phone number in Germany, whether in person or online, enter this number and know that these folks won’t be able to bother you with calls.
030-58583772 Berlin, Germany (landline)
0176-34636276 Germany (mobile)
Since these numbers quickly hit the black lists, be sure to check back for updated numbers.
Check the Number You Have Dialed…
We have tested all numbers listed above and found them working (or not in the case of FakeNumber) as described. Nevertheless, please test the number you intend on using before you hand it out.
To reach international numbers from abroad, first dial the country code and — if applicable — drop the leading 0 from the area code. Fees may apply.
And if you ever gave out your real number and came to regret it, know that you can block unwanted calls and texts on your Android.
Image Credit: pathdoc via Shutterstock
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