explain sim card use for PVA

[mexiken]

OK, I'm owning the fact that I'm a complete idiot on this topic, so... I'm hoping someone can shed some light on how I would go about doing this (FYI - I'm in the U.S.)

I am trying to find a good way to phone verify some Google accounts and the virtual numbers are becoming to unpredictable. I'd like to be able to get sms verification and I've read about buying cheap sim cards to swap in and out of a phone, but I'm not totally sure how that works.

First, it seems that I need an 'unlocked' phone... I'm happy to buy a cheap, no contract phone from something like T-Mobile - assuming that would work?

Then the sim cards... if I bought a bunch from ebay for example, is it as simple as pulling one out, popping in another one and I have a new number that can be used? (seems too easy! lol) I've seen something about 'activation'... is that just a one time thing, or does it have to be done for each new number/sim card? This is where I'm confused, 'cause if it's just a one time thing, swapping out sim cards for a few pennies for a new phone number that might (hopefully!) be able to verify at least a few accounts, then I'd be psyched!

Thanks in advance to anyone who can give this knucklehead a simple explanation or point me in the right direction of what I'm trying to accomplish.

 

[Magic5]

Just get sims online plenty of free ones out there free delivery 2 and yeah just take it out and put another one in.

 

[mexiken]

no sh!t... it's really just that easy, huh? Cool

thanks for the response, much appreciated

 

[mexiken]

OK, so I'm clearly missing something here... I went to the store to get a phone (and a bit of further clarification), and here's the issue - they say that yeah, I can switch out sim cards for a new number, but each time I do I have to "activate" that number, which in this particular case would be $35. I don't know how many verifications I can get from one number, but clearly not enough for that to make financial sense. What am I missing here?

 

[rankwatch12]

Use k7.net.. Free solution...unlimited verifications..!

 

[mexiken]

thanks rankwatch12 - I've used them with partial success. Sometimes the numbers return an error such as "This number has been used too many times already". Other times I've been unable to get a number from them at all. So while it works sometimes, I'm looking for alternatives that I know I can count on.

 

[ThreadKiller]

each time I do I have to "activate" that number, which in this particular case would be $35

Hi. Sorry I can't help you, but I am also curious about this. Are you in the US? Did they mean $35 to activate your sim card to RECEIVE an SMS? Or did they mean unlock your phone to fit with a card from another company?

People, can you receive SMS sent to a card BEFORE it has been filled with cash? Cause I can get 100 empty sim-cards from the US for $30 or so via Ebay.

 

[mexiken]

Are you in the US? Did they mean $35 to activate your sim card to RECEIVE an SMS? Or did they mean unlock your phone to fit with a card from another company?

yes, I'm in the US. As far as the $35 and what they meant, I can only tell you what I understood them to mean. I should preface this by saying the sales guy didn't really seem to know a lot about what I was asking about. He kept asking my why I needed to do this, and that I didn't necessarily need a phone to create a Google account... I just told him that my reasons didn't matter and that he should assume I DO need a phone verification LOL.

So, that being said, my understanding was that you would change out sim cards to get a new phone number on your phone, but it would only work if that number was "activated", which costs $35 per number. Maybe you could get the provider to give you a new number once or twice, but after that there would probably be a charge involved (I saw one for $15), which again, makes the price point a bit high for just a few PVAs.

I really think there is a part of this process that I simply don't understand, so hopefully someone with more knowledge and a bit of time and willingness to share will show up.

 

[washington2010]

the way it works in 3rd world countries (and why freelancers are so cheap for this) -

they can get sim cards for pennies compared to you, and they have a machine that switches them in and out - kind of like a usb hub.

for you to go to the store, buy, and put them in manually for every number u want to use... it's just not worth it...

first world problems

 

[mexiken]

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/members/173418-washington2010.html - THANK YOU! ... Thank you for that explanation. It's not exactly what I was hoping to hear, but at least I can stop wasting my time trying to figure out how to do it myself. Truly appreciate the info.

So... any tips on being able to PV accounts other than the already mentioned k7 and widely known VoIP offerings that mostly don't work (including Twilio, etc)?

 

[islandman1010]

Ok Im in the UK so it might not be the same but I go the store and buy simcards for about $1.60 (t mobile, vodaphone, virgin etc) and put the card in to get a verification text from Facebook. Then I remove that number from the Facebook account and a few days later you can use that same number again to verify another account. I buy 30 or 40 at a time and never put credit on them or pay any activation fees. They last about 10 months.

 

[Moto801]

You don't need sim cards to verify google accounts. Download the "TextMe" app from playstore and create an account with one of your emails. Use the phone number they give you to verify any account. You should be able to verify two accounts with same number. Then log out and create another account on TextMe to get a new number to verify other accounts. Repeat for more.

 

[mexiken]

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/members/45335-moto801.htmlhttp://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/members/45335-moto801.html - Thank you!!!! I just tried it and so far, it works! (1 for 1, so fingers crossed that it will continue to work!)

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/members/24869-islandman1010.htmlhttp://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/members/24869-islandman1010.html - good to know. If Moto801's method fails me, I will go back and try your approach with the sim cards and see if I can get the same results.

Sincerely, thanks for the input guys!