Can You Change Your Cell Phone Number

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Sometimes a new phone number feels similar the just relief. But is it?

A phone telephone call from a friend or parent is a welcome souvenir. Calls from strangers feel like an invasion of privacy.

Sadly, plenty of people abuse what was meant to be a positive communication tool.

Sometimes that looks like "No Caller ID" or "Private Caller" harassers who won't leave y'all lonely. Other times, it's a scammer ringing several times a day trying to steal your money or identity.

Information technology's enough to brand throwing your smartphone into the ocean sound like a skilful idea, if only information technology didn't price and then much.

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When the number of unwanted calls reaches three, five, ten, or fifty-fifty more than each day, starting over with a new phone number can appear to be the shortest path to relief.

That may not be the case, though. Fresh starts like this backfire and can create additional hassles, making the whole thing more than trouble than it'due south worth.

In this post, nosotros'll evidence y'all why changing your number doesn't always provide the relief you're looking for and why a cleanse is better than a fresh beginning.

A "new" phone number isn't really new. It's recycled.

If y'all're trying to escape spam calls, changing your number is a chance that won't terminal long.

Permit's imagine you've received l spam calls in the concluding month (although that may exist more than reality than imagination). The number has grown so loftier that you can't take information technology anymore and change your number. So, the very side by side day, an IRS scammer calls you lot. You'd be furious, correct?

Unfortunately, that's incredibly mutual.

That'due south because telephone carriers recycle onetime numbers. Typically, any "new" number your carrier gives you isn't new at all. This "new" number has probable been "deactivated" for at least 90 days, but information technology might be fifty-fifty less in high-need area codes.

There are lots of people who got what they thought was a "new" number just then received debt collector calls meant for the previous possessor of that number. If you lot change your number, chances are you'll inherit the previous owner'due south phone problems.

Additionally, any number a phone carrier gives y'all will nonetheless be vulnerable to spam calls. If information technology'due south not already part of a series of telephone call centre lists, robocall dialers often select numbers randomly, putting a target on every phone number. The amount of spam calls you become may deadening down for a cursory period, but at the charge per unit robocall volume is increasing, you'll go them before long plenty.

Whatever your new phone number is, yous're either going to inherit unwanted calls or receive them somewhen.

Changing your number on Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile

Every phone carrier has their own rules for changing your phone number. Most will only let you choose your new area lawmaking with the prefix and last vii digits selected randomly, although Verizon volition allow you to choose a prefix with random last four digits.

Likewise, depending on the carrier you take, changing your number could have effect inside a few minutes or a few days. And none of the major carriers notify your contacts most your new number for you, which we'll hash out later.

T-Mobile charges a $fifteen fee to change your phone number and will delete all of you voicemail letters.

AT&T charges a $36 fee to change your phone number and besides removes access to old voicemails.

Verizon doesn't have whatever fees. Still, if you take an Android phone running Gingerbread (2.3) OS or earlier, changing your number volition reset your device and wipe your apps, letters, photos, and any accounts or custom settings.

Dart doesn't charge a fee to modify your number either, but y'all will lose your voicemail messages.

An important note: Once yous change your telephone number, it's almost impossible to go your erstwhile number back.

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Updating contact profiles is a major project

Once you change your phone number, at that place are a host of account profiles that will need updating. Some of these are required while others are proficient to take.

Finance companies

If yous accept whatsoever loans, your lending institution volition ofttimes require contact info be kept up to date. While applying for a pupil loan, lenders make sure borrowers are required to report whatever change in contact info, whether telephone, email address, or mailing accost.

Here's a list of financial institutions you may be required to give a new phone number to:

Student loan lenders
Mortgage lenders
Car financing lenders
Banks and credit unions
Visa, American Express, Mastercard, or any other credit card company
401k or IRA account holders
Investment institutions

Utility providers

Electrical, h2o, gas, garbage, sewer, and other utility companies
Have you ever gone to take a shower but in that location'southward no hot water? Utility companies take occasional outages for repairs. If you lot're not prepared when that happens, a cold shower awaits you.

When utilities are shut off, utility companies notify affected residents, but only if they accept your number in the commencement place. Changing your number without updating each of your utility provider accounts is a surefire way to end upward with a cold shower.

Cable providers
It'south true. No ane likes to become telemarketer calls about upgrading to a "premium" cable package. How many channels practise we honestly need?

However, it's good to know if at that place are whatsoever cyberspace outages or upcoming interruptions, particularly for anyone who depends on internet admission to work from abode.

Emergency contacts

Hopefully, you never receive a call nigh an emergency. If at that place ever is one and you're the emergency contact for your spouse, partner, or child, you lot'll want to get that telephone call. Make certain any new number gets added to the appropriate forms.

There'southward no easy way to give your contacts your new number

The unfortunate irony of changing your telephone number is that it only takes a few strangers with malicious intentions to be the reason your family and friends don't have your phone number.

Making sure your friends and family unit accept your new number is 1 of the virtually irksome tasks parts of this unabridged process.

There are a few means yous could go about this:

You could send hundreds (if not thousands) of text letters.
You tin make an announcement on Facebook. Who hasn't seen a friend'southward post saying "Got a new number – send me a private message if you want it"?
Yous tin blast every email contact you know (don't forget to bcc your contacts).

Simply put, there's no piece of cake way to get a new phone number into the easily of the people who need it.

Plus, you're trusting that people will actually save your new number. Chances are, some people will forget. We've all gotten distracted by a trending tweet or YouTube video.

And inevitably, someone gets missed. They feel sad. Y'all assure them it wasn't on purpose. It's a whole awkward thing.

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Irresolute your telephone number ends up beingness a lot of work. That fresh starting time y'all might imagine is more like assigning yourself a series of projects for the next few days without whatever guarantee that it solve your privacy trouble.

What we really want is a phone number cleanse

Starting over with a non-so-new number often seems like a quick style to end spam and harassing calls.

Simply when you realize merely how much work it takes to give everyone of import your new phone number, and that number may already be the target of spammers best collectors, that fresh start yous imagined starts to look pretty dour.

If you lot want to end phone harassment from spam, "Individual Caller," and "No Caller ID" calls, your best bet is a cleanse, not a "fresh start."

That's what TrapCall does. It allows you to unmask blocked caller IDs and stop spam calls, cleansing your phone from the calls that make you miserable.

And best of all, there are cipher risks to trying TrapCall commencement. Changing your phone number is irreversible, simply TrapCall gives you a gratuitous 7-day trial to see if it stops those unwanted calls.