Can you purchase a burner phone anonymously in the US?

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨animemann80@feddit.online⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

I’ve visited Australia as a traveler, apparently I’ve heard that “burner” phones over there are not really anonymous since they literally demand for ID (WTF? That defeats the purpose of it being classed a burner phone) otherwise they aren’t allowed to sell it to you, what’s meant to be a ‘disposable’ phone turns out on buying a regular one when you consider the fact they ask for driver’s license prior to finalizing the transaction.

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DickFiasco@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Police have successfully identified burner phones by looking at what other phones they’re geographically close to. What I mean is, some crime boss carried his burner and regular phone around together all the time, so the phone records showed that the anonymous burner phone used to make shady deals was always near Joey Mobster’s phone. Hence, Joey is the likely owner of the anonymous burner.

If you do get a burner, never turn it on near your house, near your work, or near your regular phone. Keep it off and wrapped in aluminum foil until you’re in a location that you can’t easily be connected to.

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- biscuits@piefed.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Does aluminum foil actually work? You might be better off using a faraday bag that designed for this purpose.
  
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  - edgemaster72@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It may not be as effective as a proper faraday bag but yes it can greatly reduce the signal coming in/going out
    
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  - gastroglizzy@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Depending on the bag, foil works better. Always test your gear before relying on it.
    
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  - Tiral@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It’s probably not as good, but this where convenience wins because it’s good enough. You can get aluminum foil almost anywhere and it’s already in about every house.
    
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  - moldy_rice@piefed.keyboardvagabond.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You might be surprised to find that most Faraday bags are just two layers of fabric with aluminum foil between them.
    
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  - moldy_rice@piefed.keyboardvagabond.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It’s easy to test. Put it in the bag and try to call it. If the phone don’t ring, it works.
    
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- moldy_rice@piefed.keyboardvagabond.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  That would only work on some smartphones, and it wouldn’t work on Android that’s installed without gapps (the default)
  
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FuglyDuck@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
There’s options out there, yes, but you have to go look for it. The way I got my burner was buying a google pixel (for graphene os,) with cash and then putting it on a pay as you on a cash-funded visa got card

Verizon happily hooked me up.

(I use the phone for going to protests and such things.)

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- Buffalox@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Buying a phone anonymously is easy, you can do that in every phone store.
  
  It’s the sim card that’s the problem. if you pay for your service with VISA, it’s not anonymous.
  
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  - RFKJrsBrainworm@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You can buy a sim card and service for cash at most drug stores and Walmart
    
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  - FuglyDuck@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    
    It’s the sim card that’s the problem. if you pay for your service with VISA, it’s not anonymous.
    
    As I mentioned in my original comment…. It’s specifically a visa gift card.
    
    Which you get by paying cash and reload by paying cash, with no information given. Verizon just goes you the sSIM card when you set up on their service. (And the only real reason to do that is so I don’t have to go into their stores all the time.)
    
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NutinButNet@hilariouschaos.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
As far as I last checked, yes, still possible in the US.

Stores like Walmart sell the phones and phone cards for prepaid service and all that can be paid with cash which doesn’t require ID.

If nothing else, you can buy a second hand phone off Facebook Marketplace or wherever and get a phone card for cash and neither doesn’t trace back to you either.

Of course this is likely because everywhere we go is covered by cameras so you’re never truly anonymous if someone is determined enough.

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- moldy_rice@piefed.keyboardvagabond.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The US is huuuuge. There’s more places without cameras than places with cameras.
  
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Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Currently you can, but there was news last month the FCC is planning to force carriers to verify ID before allowing them on their networks.

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Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Why would you burn the phone anyway? Isn’t it enough to burn the SIM card?

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- Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It’s a phrase meaning the phone is to be used then thrown away because it has been compromised.
  
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_notice
  
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- zqps@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Your phone sends its device ID (called IMEI) to the network provider with every connection.
  
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JennyLaFae@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I remember someone that got an unlimited data SIM out of something like a car windshield boot, very punk

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moldy_rice@piefed.keyboardvagabond.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Look, every country has a tourist hot spot where you buy a burner phone in a thick foreign accent and tell them you don’t have an ID.

It might take a few hours and visits to several shops, but you’ll get an anonymous phone by the end of the day.

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rollerbang@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Plus eSIM and you’re golden?

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weps@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
no. they’ll know the phone number, who you are and have video of you buying the phone and they’ll have video of you walking and driving

you can see this when you watch police investigations on YouTube

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slazer2au@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The trick with burner phones in Australia is buying the sim as a business. Not like I have do e that…

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