What is a disposable phone number?
Disposable phone numbers are temporary numbers from online SMS receiving services. Fraudsters use them to bypass SMS verification, create fake accounts, and commit abuse without using their real phone number.
How does the API work?
Submit a phone number in E.164 format (e.g., +12085813945) and the API checks it against our database of known disposable phone number services. It returns whether the number is from a known disposable service.
What format should I use for phone numbers?
Use E.164 format with the plus sign and country code (e.g., +12085813945 for a US number). This ensures accurate lookup against our database.
Should I block all disposable numbers?
It depends on your use case. For high-security applications (banking, payments), blocking is recommended. For general signups, you might flag for additional verification instead of outright blocking.
How does this help prevent fraud?
Fraudsters use disposable numbers to create multiple fake accounts, bypass SMS 2FA, abuse referral programs, and commit promotional fraud. Detecting these numbers is a key part of fraud prevention.
How often is the database updated?
Our database of known disposable phone services is updated daily to capture new services and number ranges as they emerge.
Can I use this with email validation too?
Yes! Our bundle includes the Disposable Email Checker API. Combine both to detect users with disposable emails AND disposable phones for comprehensive fraud prevention.
What if a number is not in your database?
If a number is not from a known disposable service, isDisposable will be false. New disposable services emerge regularly, so we continuously update our database to improve coverage.
