Key Takeaways

• Burner phones are prepaid phones purchased with cash for privacy reasons, often associated with avoiding authorities.
• Burner SIM is a cheap, prepaid SIM card used in smartphones for temporary identity-linked phone numbers.
• Burners, though useful for privacy and emergencies, do not provide full anonymity due to various traceable elements.

Need a phone number that can vanish at a moment's notice? Burner phones offer temporary anonymity for undercover chats, emergencies, or just avoiding those pesky spam calls. Burners are not only for criminals in movies—they might be the right call for you.

A "burner SIM" is a related term, and refers to a cheap, prepaid SIM card that you can insert into another phone. You may plan on only using the SIM card for a limited period of time and not linking it to your real identity.

What Is a Burner?

A burner phone is typically a cheap, prepaid mobile phone that the owner doesn't intend to use long-term. These phones have traditionally been purchased with cash to avoid any kind of paper trail that would tie the phone number to an individual.

The term was popularized in the hit 2002 HBO series The Wire, where "burners" were used to avoid detection by authorities. Once a number was suspected of being compromised, the device was discarded or "burned" so that the trail would go cold.

Since the rise of the iPhone and Android devices, burners are more commonly referred to as "feature phones" or "dumb phones" since the smartphones of today didn't exist in the early 2000s. While the term "burner phone" is still common, SIM cards could also be used in such a manner.

Instead of purchasing an entirely new device, a burner SIM can be used in a smartphone to switch between numbers for a variety of reasons. Some smartphones can even accommodate more than one SIM at a time for this purpose. With that in mind, some of the applications of a burner phone rely solely on having a second dedicated device you can use.

Why Would You Use a Burner?

You might use a burner phone or SIM to protect your identity. If you can manage to procure a handset or SIM card that isn't linked to your real-world identity, you can use the number without the risk of being identified.

There are all sorts of reasons that someone might want to remain anonymous. Maybe you're phoning in an anonymous tip to an employer. Maybe you would like to use a secure messaging service like Signal or Telegram without disclosing your primary phone number.

Maybe you're trying to avoid giving your main phone number to marketers who will likely send you follow-up messages—like when you're viewing a real estate listing or looking for insurance quotes.

Since burner phones are feature phones, they are severely limited in their abilities. Most lack cameras or access to a modern browser and are instead limited to phone calls and text messaging. Since they are relatively lightweight devices, they have excellent battery life, too.

Many such devices will last for days on a single charge, and sometimes even months, if you use the battery sparingly. This makes burner phones ideal for use in an emergency. They are often found in emergency survival kits since they can be charged and turned off until they are required. A burner phone is a spare phone with long battery life that doesn't need an expensive cell phone plan—what's not to like?

A Burner Doesn't Guarantee Anonymity

If you're buying a burner phone for privacy reasons that extend beyond simply using the number to send anonymous Signal messages or avoiding spam, be aware that no cell phone provides you with true anonymity.

It's all about your "threat model"—what threats are you trying to protect your privacy from? Just think about the process of getting a burner phone from the store. Let's say that you drive to a store, buy the burner phone with a credit card, drive home, and turn it on.

If you took your normal phone with you, your cellular carrier will know that you were at the store at the time the phone was purchased. License plate cameras on the route may have captured your license plate and recorded your movements. A camera in the store may have recorded you buying the phone. Your credit card company will have a record of you buying the phone. When you turn the phone on at home, the cellular carrier your phone uses will have a pretty good idea of where your home address is.

And if you carry your burner phone and normal phone at the same time and both are powered on, anyone looking at cellular phone records can get a pretty good idea that the same person owns those phones.

Yes, that's a lot of ways that an adversary with serious resources could trace you. If you're really trying to evade government authorities—well, good luck. You'll need it. On the other hand, if you just want a new phone number that isn't directly and easily linked to your identity by the companies you deal with and the people you call, that'll do just fine.

If you're not looking for anonymity and just want a secondary cell phone with a long battery life for use in emergencies, this doesn't really matter.

Where to Get a Burner Phone or SIM

Convenience stores and electronic retailers will sell prepaid SIM cards and burner phones. Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and other similar stores will have a good selection of cheap devices or SIM-only plans that allow you to call and text and not much else. You can often buy prepaid SIM cards from corner stores like 7-Eleven and drugstores like Rite Aid.

You should expect to pay between $10 and $50 for a cheap burner, depending on the features you want. Plans start at around $10, but ultimately, it depends on your intended usage. Most burners are used purely for texting and calling, and any additional features on top of that (touchscreens, cameras, etc.) may be surplus to requirement and a waste of battery life.

The Tracfone TCL Flip 2 is a simple flip phone with 4G LTE and Android 11 that provides up to 6.8 hours of talk time on a single charge for just $20. It even has a camera. AT&T's version of the Flip 2 is significantly more expensive at $60. Tracfone also offers a similar $20 flip phone, the Nokia 2760, but it runs KaiOS instead of Android.

Tracfone also offers the Nokia C100, a more traditional 4G LTE smartphone with a larger screen, 32GB of storage, and Android 12 for $50. You can buy them online or find Tracfone phones in stores near you.

If you're really looking for anonymity, how far you want to go in anonymizing your purchase is up to you. You could ask someone else to buy it for you or ask them to purchase you a gift card, which you then might use to buy the phone. You could also use cash in person. For the sake of anonymity, you probably want to avoid using your credit or debit card, so purchasing from an online retailer is probably not the best idea.

If you're only purchasing a burner to throw into a survival kit or to keep in the car for emergencies, you can comb the web for the best deals without worrying about privacy implications. Amazon, eBay, or your preferred local service provider are great places to start.

What About Google Voice and Other Services?

If you're simply looking for a second number that you can use to call and text from a computer or to use with a service like Signal or Telegram, consider VoIP services. Google Voice, Skype, and other internet telephony providers can give you a number that you can use for basic texting and calling.

Google Voice only works in the U.S., but it's free and easy to sign up for. You can register a new Google Account to use with your new number and take precautions like hiding your IP address using a VPN. Other providers exist, but they will likely charge you for a number (and that may require linking your card).

Burn After Reading

If you're using a burner for privacy reasons, make sure that you take appropriate steps to distance your identity from your purchase. If your interest in a burner is purely for emergency or backup use, make sure that you charge the phone before you stow it (and consider an AA battery charger).

Wondering how you can charge your burner while away from a power outlet? Learn how to charge your phone in the middle of nowhere. If you're wondering how police have tackled this phenomenon in the past, consider watching The Wire.